For a Reason to Exist
by Zoorzh
Summary: Some people are born to wither. For others to be happy, someone has to suffer. But she has sworn to never be weak again. [AU in the canon world, very independent and dark Girl!Naruto]
1. Chapter 1

Hello people!!

READ ME, I'M IMPORTANT!!!!!: There are some things you absolutely need to know before you start reading. The first and most obvious thing is about Naruto's gender. In this story, he is a GIRL. But I'm not changing his name into Naruko or anything like that. Even if Naruto is in reality only a boys' name (and I don't know if it is or isn't), I'm keeping it. Otherwise writing this fic feels just too foreign, giving the star of the show a different name. Hope it doesn't bother you. Secondly: the idea of Naruto losing his arm and eye and Kyuubi giving him his was inspired by another fic where this happened. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of that fic right now, I just remember it's really good... well, just know that it wasn't originally my idea. But note: everything except that is from my own head. Our fics are completely different, beginning with Naruto's gender, and everything else after that. Go find that fic and you'll see.

And about the name of the story... sigh ...I totally suck with giving names to fics. The name is lame, I know.

This is yet another classic rewrite of the canon, but admit it, you all love those. At least I do. And the rating is M for a reason, so if you are easily disturbed, I recommend you don't read. Oh, and I must warn you, OOC-ness ahead.

Well, I'm gonna stop rambling now... Enjoy the fic, and if you like it, then leave a review. Comments always inspire to update faster.

(NOTE: This chapter has been edited twice.)

I don't own Naruto, and blah, blah, blah...

For a Reason to Exist

Chapter One — Exist to Suffer

The first time Naruto noticed she was different, she had only been three years old. From the very beginning people had always treated her differently, but only after she had started to gain a greater understanding of the life surrounding her, did she understand that not everyone lived like her. And this meant that not everyone was insulted, hated and avoided like an awful disease at the age of three. Not every child received cold glares of blame and bitterness and not all kids were nurtured with rough, unwilling hands.

So there had to be something wrong with her.

Several times over the years she had tried asking why, but no one would tell her. They would merely ignore her questions, ask if there was anything else she needed, and then be off on their way as quickly as they could. And for some reason, Naruto's heart ached. She didn't understand it at first, but once she had realized that she was not like others, she also begun to understand that it was because of the lack of closeness and affection. She had seen mothers with their babies and animals with their offspring and seen how different their interaction together was from the way she was treated. For as long as Naruto could remember, there had always been a sense of loss inside her, and it only grew deeper as time went by. Why was she different and why was she rejected? What was wrong with her? Was she somehow… unsatisfactory?

And when she walked the streets of Konoha, people would always evade her as much as possible and throw despising glares at her. But why? _Why_ did they all hate her? Naruto couldn't understand.

But whenever she looked into the eyes of a mother, deep inside her Naruto knew she had always known the reason. The knowledge had always been somewhere in there, just waiting for her to find it. It didn't matter which woman her eyes connected with; they always told her the same thing.

_You are not normal. You are an abomination. You are a freak of nature._

And then the women would hiss at her threateningly and gather their children close, as if she was a danger to them. And Naruto would clench her fists and fight back tears. She spent so much time crying while she was alone, but instinctively didn't want to do it in front of others. No, instead she bit her lip and dug her nails into her palms, hard enough to draw blood—although the bleeding usually stopped only seconds later.

And when Naruto wanted to play, no one would play with her. She was too strange, and parents always warned their kids to not get involved with the blond girl who had whisker marks on her cheeks. They said she was vicious and dangerous, and although the children were confused and disbelieving at first, in time their curiosity and indifference turned into mockery and cruelness, encouraged by their parents. For little kids, it was wondrous that there was someone they could freely practice on this otherwise forbidden game of theirs, called "playground hierarchy". Indeed, for them Naruto was the lowest of low, the ugliest of ugly, and the stupidest of stupid. Not even the other orphans and loners accepted her.

Naruto was all alone.

And so, by the time she was five Naruto had accepted this, but it never ceased to hurt her. She was different, but _why_? _How_? She had always been an obedient and quiet child, and never intentionally did anything bad. Of course, accidents happened like was only natural, but for some reason the adults always treated her like she had done it on purpose, and punished her harshly. They slapped her, shook her by the hair, and sometimes even hit her with a belt. For a long time Naruto had thought this was a normal way of teaching children to behave and not make the same mistakes again, but once more her assumptions were proven wrong.

But because they treated her so harshly, they must have had a good reason for doing so, right? There must have been something _so _horribly wrong with her for them to hate her so fiercely. They punished her because she was not good. It was her own fault. But still, she couldn't change herself for as long as nobody told her what it was about her that needed to be changed.

Thus, one day, she decided to make a visit to the only soul within the whole village who acknowledged her and treated her kindly, this person being the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. And so, as soon as the sun had risen high enough for it to be called a decent time for visiting, Naruto left the orphanage and navigated her way through the village to the Hokage Tower. Had she been a normal five-year-old girl, many of the people on the streets would have stopped to ask her what she was doing out there alone and so early, but as she wasn't, they merely ignored her, too tired to yet care about her presence. However, being a very independent girl, Naruto managed to her destination very well on her own. It wasn't her first time, after all.

---

Every time he saw the girl, the Hokage felt like wincing. Not because of who she was, but because of how she looked. She was disturbingly thin, like she was being starved, and always wore those same, old rags that were getting so worn out, that Naruto almost looked like she was living on the streets. The orange shorts and the black t-shirt were full of patched holes and tears, and the fabric had gotten so thin that he could almost count the girl's pointy ribs trough it. Additionally, she was running barefooted most of the time. But Sarutobi was careful to never let the blonde notice his discomfort. It was always a joy for him when she came to visit, and he didn't want to scare her off with his horrified gaze. The girl relied on him heavily, and if he let her down, there would be no one else for her to place her trust in within the village walls. Sarutobi desperately wished he had more free time in his hands to spend with Naruto. He didn't want her to grow up completely alone.

Sarutobi smiled warmly at the girl as he watched her sit down and look around herself, her big blue eyes wandering, searching for anything interesting within the room. He was almost too aware of her situation, but his hands were tied in the matter. Even as the Hokage, he had no way of forcing the citizens to accept her. He was not a tyrant, and couldn't force the minds of people. The best he could do was to always give Naruto protection and provide her with a place to stay and money to live off, once she came to an age that she was able to survive on her own. That wouldn't be for a few more years though, and consequently Sarutobi couldn't help but feel like a helpless fool.

He was not in a situation suited for raising a child because of the duties and responsibilities that came with the title of Hokage, and those who shared his kind opinion of Naruto were all busy shinobi. Sarutobi knew the girl would have to find her own way through life. He could do nothing but support her silently. Settling on her side against his village and the council was an impossible option, and he was already being pressured as it was. No, as the Hokage, he had to remain neutral, otherwise his emotions would interfere too much with his decision making. He had an entire village under his protection. Naruto was just one person. Even if it angered him, he had to think of the greater good.

But as always, he once again momentarily forgot about his problems as he saw Naruto's sunny smile.

"What brings you here today, Naruto-chan?" he asked her kindly and offered her some sweets, which the girl accepted with a happy squeal. The sweets were always in the drawer of his desk, and Naruto was the one they were meant for. Sarutobi could guess from her skinny figure that she didn't get sugary treats like that very often.

"I missed you, _jiji_!" Naruto grinned, and swallowed another sweet.

Sarutobi gave a jovial laugh and his eyes gazed straight into hers. Naruto's eyes were such an incredible blue color and so pure, that it was hard to believe that somewhere inside her lurked such a malicious demon. Her whisker marks were the only visible characteristics that indicated she was indeed a _jinchuuriki_.

"I am glad to hear that. It's a shame that I'm too busy to regularly visit you, Naruto-chan."

The blond sighed. "Yeah, it totally sucks," she replied offhandedly. Sarutobi was inwardly a bit surprised to hear such language from the girl's mouth. Had she been staying out too long again, listening to older people talk?

"What have you been up to lately?" he asked her, carefully disguising his concern. Naruto seemed to hesitate a little at his question, and it puzzled him. She was not the type of girl to be naughty, nor was she a timid personality, so why the nervousness? Had something happened?

"Naruto-chan?" he repeated.

The girl looked down, suddenly completely losing her interest in the sweets. Her expression grew uneasy and depressed. "_Jiji_…" she started reluctantly. "I know that people don't like me. And when I ask why, they won't tell me."

Sarutobi swallowed silently. He had been dreading the day Naruto would confront him about this. And even though he knew that the blonde deserved an honest answer, he simply wasn't ready to give her one. She had caught him unprepared and off guard. She was truly an exceptionally observant and brave child, and this more than proved it—only five years old, and she was already confronting him about it head on, all alone and by herself. But, as much as he regretted it later, today Sarutobi would lie to her and leave her questions without answers. At that time, his opinion was that she was too young to handle something so serious.

Sarutobi sighed heavily.

'_Forgive me for my weakness, Yondaime. I… just don't think she's ready for the truth yet. Forgive me for everything.'_

---

Naruto laid on her bed with her gaze affixed to the ceiling. It was late, but it was simply too noisy outside to get any sleep. It was October 10th, and the yearly celebration of the death of the Kyuubi was in full swing. The orphanage was empty, except for her. The adults had taken all the other children out to enjoy the festival—only Naruto had been left behind. One of the three women who took care of them had told her that she was not allowed to come, smirking in an oddly smug way while saying it, and then ordered her to go to sleep at the usual time. It was already far past the time darkness had fallen, but the others were still out. Naruto wondered what it was like to go to a festival. She had never been to a single one.

It also happened to be her sixth birthday.

She had not received any kind of gifts or congratulations from anybody, except for the Hokage, but that was how it had always been.

Nobody else cared, and Naruto's heart ached. She was lonely and sad and hungry for affection. At times, when no one would say a word to her for hours, she felt like she would go insane if something didn't distract her. She felt trapped inside her own head, ready to explode and wither. She couldn't sleep well, and it was hard for her to eat or fully concentrate on anything when everything just kept spinning on and on within her mind. She thought and wondered and speculated and considered, endlessly without a rest, but couldn't come up with an answer for the question that burned her insides.

_What is wrong with me?_

Sometimes it was too much for her, and during the past year she had adopted a tendency to sneak out and ditch her lessons to go cry and vent out her frustration somewhere.

Like all the other children of the orphanage, Naruto, too, was being taught how to read and write and count (and use common sense, which some of the kids seemed to completely lack), but unlike the others, she already performed them all fluently, albeit she still didn't understand where she had picked up the skills. She didn't complain though, unlike her teacher, who often accused her of cheating.

Naruto had also found, that even though it was an orphanage where she lived—meaning the place was filled with individuals who had suffered and endured pain during their lives—they still couldn't understand hurt like she did. Many of them were very immature and cruel as well, and—if Naruto was completely honest—just _stupid_. Or was it just that she herself was beyond the awareness and intelligence of what was considered normal for a six-year-old? Furthermore, Naruto was physically more capable than all the kids her age put together. Naruto could feel an obscure strength within herself, and she couldn't understand it at all. Of course she had realized that this might've had something to do with why everyone loathed her, but it still didn't explain anything or give her any answers.

When would someone tell her? How many more years would she have to spend not understanding herself at all? The future seemed dark for Naruto every time she thought ahead. She was afraid of what would happen to her and what she would grow up to be. She had no plans for the future, simply because she didn't have much hope. Was it possible that a person could be born just to suffer and wither away? Did she have any other choice? God, if there was one, did not favor her, and that in itself was a definitive fate. Was there really only one destiny for a person, or was it something that was molded by the people themselves? Or was life, in truth, meaningless?

Naruto was quite certain that not many six-year-olds thought about such things all day long. She was _different_. She wasn't normal. She was a freak of nature. That was what the eyes of a mother told her when she looked into them. Women didn't look at her with their usual maternal instincts. No, they looked at her like she was going to slaughter and devour their children the second they lowered their defenses. But _why_?

Presently, as her gaze lazily followed a moth that was desperately looking for a way out through the closed window, Naruto wasn't sure whether she wanted to be numb or to cry her eyes out. But only a second later she decided that neither option would do, as she remembered that the others might return at any time. It had been a very long time since she had cried in front of anyone, and Naruto didn't intend to start it again now, just because of some stupid festival everyone else had gone off to enjoy but she had been denied. Well, many of the children _had_ lost their parents in the battle against the Kyuubi no Youko six years ago, so they _did have_ a good reason to celebrate its downfall. Naruto herself didn't know anything about her parents, and no one would talk to her about this subject either—some, because they didn't know anything, and others, because they didn't want to.

The Hokage, who no doubt knew, wouldn't tell her anything useful either, and it frustrated Naruto endlessly. He was the only person within the whole village whom she could trust, and he too was keeping important secrets from her. It made her mad, but the anger was quickly subdued as Naruto reminded herself that Sarutobi was the one and only soul in the world who ever smiled at her and cared about her.

And like always, he had remembered Naruto's birthday. Every year she would receive a small gift from him, and today, too, Sarutobi had personally stopped by to see her, arousing deep feelings of jealousy amongst the rest of the inhabitants of the orphanage. He given her a small and simple but expensive-looking metal flute as a birthday present. It wasn't really a toy, like Naruto had hoped, but it was still cool and interesting. She had vowed to learn how to play it and then come and show the old man. Naruto owned very few things, and for that reason she treasured Sarutobi's gifts more than anything else in the world that she could touch.

A brown, worn-out teddy bear; a thin silver necklace; a carved, wooden miniature shinobi; a silky, dark-blue ribbon for her hair; a thick storybook; and now, a beautiful flute. They were her treasures, and Naruto knew better than to leave them lying around. People had tried to steal her things before, but nowadays Naruto would hide everything she wanted to keep safe. And not inside the orphanage either, but under the bushes in the backyard. She had dug a deep hole on the ground, burying the bear, the book, the miniature and the ribbon down there within a small box. The silver necklace she had decided to wear, and the flute she wasn't going to hide away. No, she would learn to play it, and then she would go and entertain the old man Hokage with her melodies.

The moth was still searching, quickly flapping its little wings in the growing moonlight, desperately searching for a way out. It amazed Naruto how such a simple creature could remind her so much of her own struggle. But she couldn't help it as she laid on her bed, watching. It was almost hypnotizing, observing the movements of its small body, dancing in the twilight. The sounds of the festival dimmed in her ears and Naruto felt sleep creeping on her. Yet, she couldn't get her eyes off the delicate being that reminded her so much of herself.

And it was a good thing she didn't, for at that very second, a kunai came flying through the window, shattering the glass loudly, speedily growing closer. At the last second though, her brains kicked in and Naruto half dodged and half deflected the kunai with her metal flute. She was completely awake now, and quickly moved off the bed, looking wildly around herself. Suddenly her eyes found the kunai, and her heart almost skipped a beat. The moth she had watched was now broken and lifeless, pinned against the bed's headboard by the sharp edge of the weapon. This was a very bad omen, Naruto deemed. And only then did the reality finally strike her. That kunai had… had been meant for her! Someone had tried to kill her!

Suddenly her pulse started racing and her breath hitched in her throat. Unconsciously her body started sweating and her normally so innocent-looking face twisted into an expression of horror. She had nearly just died! Never before in her life had Naruto experienced such fear. She was beginning to panic and the tears forced their way out until she was openly crying. She clutched the metal flute tightly against her chest, as if she was hanging onto a life-buoy. She could feel the presence of three people outside the window.

She was alone. She wasn't fast enough to run. She wasn't strong enough to fight. She would not be given any more mercy than the dead moth pierced by the kunai.

She was going to die.

And for some strange reason, Naruto felt her face twist into a hysterical smile filled with bitterness, as a thought popped into her head. It was just as she had suspected, after all. Some people were born just to suffer and wither in the hands of those who were superior. She was a weakling compared to those fully trained ninjas. She was only prey. For others to be happy, someone had to be miserable. Naruto only wondered, why _her_? What was so wrong with her that people deemed it better to kill her off?

Slowly all rational thoughts left her as the three ninjas entered through the window. And after that…

Pain, pain, pain, pain... Screams. Laughing. Blood. Lots of blood, _too_ much blood. And they called her a demon, over and over again.

"_Die demon!"_

"_Feel our pain, demon!"_

"_Understand this hatred, demon, and be gone from tainting our lives! Die!"_

First, they caught her, laughing at her pitiful attempt to get away. Then, dragging Naruto back to her bed by her hair, they proceeded to cut her Achilles tendons, so she could not attempt running again. But despite the unimaginable pain, she still struggled, and somehow in the process her right shoulder was dislocated. One by one, they broke all her small fingers, trying their best to muffle her screams.

One of the three men picked up the metal flute from the floor, twiddling it around his fingers smugly.

"This is the object that just saved your life a moment ago, huh? You know, we would've settled for simply killing you off easily with that kunai, but now that we've seen you still retain some of your fighting spirit even in this form, we've decided that we want to first humiliate and break you thoroughly. You've taken something dear from us all. Now we're going to take something from you—your life."

The men chuckled.

"Oh, look, the demon is trying to say something," smirked the man closest to Naruto. "Well, let's hear it!"

The blonde's eyes were red from crying and her voice hoarse from screaming. Still, she managed to choke a few, barely audible words through the gags on her and through the pain. "W-what… please… I… don't understand… Why?" They looked at her, their eyes suddenly radiating rage. She couldn't understand their reaction.

"Coward! Can't even face your death honorably! I'll make sure you feel in your skin every lie you've ever told and every single bit of pain you've caused to Konoha, before you pass on!" the third man seethed.

Suddenly, the man holding her flute stepped forward. "Is this flute precious to you?" Naruto's eyes filled with fresh tears once again, and that was enough of an answer for the man. "So it is? I wonder where you stole it from… It's pretty nice. I think I'll keep it."

And then, to Naruto's absolute horror, they started to rip off her clothes, whilst hitting and beating and cutting her. And then… one of the men lowered his hand, sliding it along her thigh, opening her legs…!

'_No! LET ME GO! NO!"_

She struggled harder than ever, but the three ninjas overpowered her ridiculously easily. She shut her eyes tightly and cried, the mere emotional pain clutching her so hard that she was nearly ready to swallow the gag and kill herself suffocating. Screaming silently inside her head, she felt herself shaking so violently now that the man currently above her had a hard time not falling off. This unconscious reaction only served her several hard slaps on the face and more pain in her ankles, fingers, right shoulder, and most of all, between her legs. And Naruto felt herself bleeding unstoppably. Some of the smaller cuts and bruises had already mended due to her fast healing factor, but the bigger wounds were driving her mad with pain. Why hadn't she died yet? Why hadn't she at least passed out? For that was what she wanted, to die, die, die… never look at anyone in the eyes ever again.

But Naruto's tormentor had seemed to figure that part out, so he decided to stab her in the guts, just to get a reaction out of her. And he did get one. Naruto's eyes flew open as she felt the cold metal rip through her skin, the edge sinking deep within her midsection, just above the now surfaced seal on her stomach. The blood just seemed to pour out of her, and Naruto had no idea how much she had already lost. She didn't know how much blood a human body could hold, but not much more, right? Now she would die faster and this humiliation would be over sooner. Naruto closed her eyes once more, and almost felt relieved to feel her life fading. She wouldn't have to suffer much longer…

But then, as the man finally pulled out of her and rose up, Naruto felt a hand grip her jaw tightly. "I'm disappointed," the man hissed. "You kept your eyes closed the whole time. One who doesn't appreciate her sight, doesn't need it."

Naruto almost swallowed her gag as she heard this. They were going to do something to her eyes too…? Would it never, ever end?

And then, very suddenly, Naruto felt something powerful move within her body, systematically reaching out everywhere and filling her. It was faint at first, but gradually got stronger and stronger. First, she noticed how the bleeding slowly stopped, and next, she felt her wounds start to heal, albeit slowly. This went, because of the blood that covered her, unnoticed by the three men who were standing around her, triumphing over her nearing death. And finally, Naruto felt a peculiar sensation of numbness fall over her. She didn't even feel it, as the men carved her left eye out—and what was even odder, was that she saw very well from both her eye sockets. Something overwhelming was gathering inside of her, and then a certain type of blackness took her. It was as if she was right there, but at the same time wasn't. It was Naruto, but some other Naruto.

And now the three men had finally noticed things weren't going as they'd planned anymore, and backed away, their eyes wide in panic and horror. And then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Naruto stood up, somehow ignoring her broken Achilles tendons, and popped her right shoulder back to place. Slowly, she stretched her fingers, which had all been broken just a moment ago, and then turned her gaze to her tormentors.

The men were now starting to stumble backwards, afraid to death, and one of them seemed to be fumbling for a so far unused sword from his back.

"She's a monster! Kill the demon! Kill the Kyuubi! Kill her now before she recovers completely!" the other two urged him.

'_The Kyuubi…?'_ Naruto thought briefly, before her mind went blank, as something red and powerful started settling around her.

Finally, the man holding a sword approached her. He was fast and not half bad at handling the blade, but unfortunately for him, he was a lot larger than Naruto and didn't have much room to strike with his weapon between the high bunk beds. And thus, aiming at her neck, his strike missed by several inches, and instead of her head, he ended up completely chopping off Naruto's left arm.

The blonde fell on her knees, screaming and clutching the bloody stump of her shoulder. It hurt more than anything she had ever experienced before, regardless of the calming redness that enveloped her. It felt surreal for a moment, and she panicked, trying to move her hand …but it just wasn't there. Naruto was beginning to sink to the floor, feeling faint because of the incredible blood loss. The man in front of her lifted his sword to finish her off, grinning insanely, cheered on by the other two. He brought his weapon down fast, ready remove Naruto's head, but at the last second the numbness returned to her. And then she felt as if something huge exploded inside of her.

She felt strong. She felt so strong that butchering those three pigs would certainly be no problem at all. An animalistic anger settled inside her, a terrible bloodlust, and as the redness enclosed more and more around her body, she crouched down like an animal, evaded the sword, and attacked.

The first of the three to die, she decided, would be that very man. The redness around Naruto, moving at her command, first tore through his shoulder and then grotesquely ripped off his head, creating a sea of blood under them. The other two tried to run, but it was of no use. Within a second, she was blocking the window, and the door was too far away for them to reach before she could kill them. They could only watch in horror as the oddly expressionless, small six-year-old sent the red, demonic chakra towards them, intending to rip off their heads just like their comrade's—

It was then that a small miracle in their benefit happened, as the arrival of two ANBU-units and the Hokage himself through the broken window was enough to distract the blonde momentarily, so that the two were able to reach the door before they were caught by the girl's red chakra.

One of the teams immediately moved, on the Hokage's quick order, to pursue the two ninjas, but the rest stayed put, cautiously observing the girl. The whole ninja population inside the village had felt the horrifying chakra explode all of a sudden, and without a further thought, the Hokage had left whatever he was doing in his dust, two ANBU-units tailing him.

Sarutobi could only stare at her pitiful state. There, standing naked, bloody and critically injured in the middle of the room, was Naruto. The red chakra, which he knew belonged to Kyuubi, had closed around her like a barrier, working as both offence and defense. Where her left hand should have been, was now only a bleeding stump, but for the spectators' great surprise, a red, see-through hand, completely made of chakra, was there as the substitute of the old one. Sarutobi searched for her true arm with his eyes and quickly located it on the floor. He also noticed one bloody, blue eyeball on the bed, and upon closer inspection, saw that it, too, belonged to Naruto. What had those men done to her? The ANBU around him were shifting nervously, thinking, and all ending up with the same conclusion of the night's events.

They didn't have any more time for their thoughts, however, as Naruto suddenly collapsed. Sarutobi was thankfully fast enough to catch her before her body reached the ground. Naruto was unconscious.

Barking orders like an angry dog, he ordered someone to quickly move Naruto's arm and eyeball to the hospital. Another one was to go contact their interrogation specialists and make sure the other two men were delivered swiftly into their hands so they could start the questioning. The rest were told to stay back and guard the scene of the bloodbath and the dead body. And then, within a second, Sarutobi was on his way to the hospital, holding the unconscious girl in his arms as gently as he could. She was so small and bloody… Sarutobi's heart ached. Those three men had broken her like a fragile porcelain doll.

---

As the ANBU were taking the two shaking men to the interrogation rooms, one of the captives dropped something.

"What's this?" asked a voice behind a bird mask, and his hand held up a small metal flute for the prisoners to see.

One of them narrowed his eyes furiously. "That murdering demon… it's hers," he spat. The ANBU narrowed his eyes behind the mask. He decided he would have to deliver the object to the Hokage later on.

---

_Naruto was awoken by a loud growl that echoed from the walls of the sewer._

_Wait… sewer? What? Where was she?_

_It was so dark and wet that she couldn't call it anything else but a sewer. Her head pounded as many things and thoughts ran through her head. But she didn't want to think. She wanted to disappear, die, anything but return to reality. Maybe she had gotten lucky and she was already dead and this was the afterlife? But if so, why was the pain still there?_

_Naruto didn't want to remember, but couldn't stop herself. And as she fell to her knees and burst out crying, she felt a sudden pain in her left eye and arm. The body parts that she had lost. And then, a sudden voice entered her hearing._

"_**Come to me, Naruto,"**__ it hissed to her, and she followed it like a sleepwalker. The way wasn't too long, and very soon she found herself standing in front of a huge gate, completely dumfounded. The sight in front of her was…_

"_Who are you? Where are we?"_

"_**You were unaware of my presence?"**__ the fox asked, and his huge red eyes widened slightly in surprise, observing every movement her small body made._

"_Huh?" Naruto wasn't quite sure what the giant fox meant._

"_**My presence sealed within you. I am Kyuubi no Youko. We are in the depths of your mind right now as we speak."**_

_What? How was that possible? This was ridiculous. Naruto was getting upset again. "Sealed? What do you mean sealed? You're supposed to be dead, and so am I!"_

_If it was true… then this was the reason they all hated her?_

_The fox seemed to narrow his eyes at her. The Kyuubi was not the most patient of demons, but he realized he had to hold off his annoyance for now. He needed her to think rationally—well, as rationally as someone her age, who had gone through what she just had, could. It would do no good upsetting her. Things would just get unnecessarily difficult._

"_**Neither of us is dead. I was sealed within you that night when I 'supposedly' died. Those three men who attacked you hate you because of me. They most likely see you as my incarnation."**_

_They were both silent for a while, and then the fox decided that a little explaining wouldn't hurt. She _was _only six after all, even if she was an abnormally smart one. __**"You heal fast, you are strong, and you have matured far faster than any other kit. Those are all effects of holding me inside of you. I'm hasty to see you become something more than a pushover, so I leak my power little by little through the seal to give you an advantage against others. The whisker marks on your face are also my influence."**_

_Naruto seemed to finally understand. So… this was the truth? She looked away and swallowed. "I see… What's happening to me right now?"_

"_**Your body has almost reached the hospital. I have already healed all the life threatening wounds, excluding your arm, so we will not die."**_

"_So… We are dependent on each other? If I die, you die, and so you must help me?"_

_The Kyuubi felt pleased that she had understood the situation. He hated stupid creatures. __**"Yes."**_

_Suddenly, Naruto's eyes turned hateful and pained and her miserable posture grew surprisingly threatening. "Then why didn't you help me any earlier? Why did you let them… why did you let it get so far? Now I've lost an arm and an eye—how do you think I'll be able protect us half blind and one-handed?"_

_The girl had some spunk, the Kyuubi had to admit, but still, rude and arrogant creatures irritated the demon. And so did those who talked back to him._

"_**Shut up!"**__ the demon barked, before being able to suppress his anger again. Then, he continued much more calmly. __**"It wasn't my decision, and I'll tell you the full details some other time. Right now you need to make a quick decision."**_

_Naruto arched her eyebrow, a bitter smile on her face. "Oh?"_

"_**You haven't yet lost either of the parts you spoke of. There is still a chance that they could be replanted with extremely advanced medical jutsu, although, as far as I know, the success level would be almost nonexistent. This is the first time I've been able to sense the world outside, and I have no information of the skills of your medics. Unfortunate."**_

_Naruto growled. "And the point of telling me this is?"_

_The Kyuubi observed her for a moment before replying. __**"Do you understand that you are far from a normal six-year-old? You are superior to your peers in every sense of the word. But after crippling yourself like you have, even you will be weak, which is bad for us both. I can't repeat what I did tonight all the time. It was our luck that those men decided to go slow instead of just snapping your neck or something alike. That, for example, is something I wouldn't be able to do anything about. So, now I offer you something to replace what you have lost because of my presence in your body."**_

_The blonde looked skeptical. "You can't replace what I have lost."_

_The fox demon gave a feral grin to his host. __**"We'll see about that."**_

_It was Naruto's turn to sneer now. "Can you give me something I never had to begin with? Love, innocence, affection, a will to live? Can you give me any of those?"_

_The demon didn't hesitate to taunt her about her apparent weakness. __**"No. It is foolish to dream about something like that. What you're talking about is something you will never have."**__ He gave a vicious snicker.__** "But even if you have no reason or desire to continue onwards right now, you shouldn't waste both of our lives and let those three men—and however many others like them there are—to win this."**_

_The girl bit her lip and clenched her little fists._

"_**None of what happened was your fault, but the villagers blamed you regardless. The Hokage, the ninjas and the villagers, they all knew but didn't tell you. Do you know why?"**_

_The blonde shook his head silently._

"_**Because they deemed you too weak to handle it," **__The Kyuubi explained, his piercing stare seeing right through her.__** "They thought the second you found out about me you'd do something reckless and stupid. Maybe they even considered the possibility that you would willingly devote yourself to me. That's why the seal stopped me from helping you. It was designed to allow me to only truly reach you when your life was in severe danger, meaning critical injuries. They were afraid you'd betray them."**_

"_That's not true!" Naruto exclaimed hotly, her eyes watering. "Sarutobi-jiichan would never think that of me!"_

_The Kyuubi let out a long, mocking laughter. __**"You are so naïve, Naruto. Not only him, but your own parents too. The seal was designed by your parents together and carried out by your father, the Yondaime."**_

_Now the shock was even more evident on her face__**.**__ Of all people… The Fourth? And Sarutobi hadn't told her! "That can't be true!" she shouted angrily, almost pleadingly._

_But the Kyuubi simply continued. __**"They sacrificed you, their own kit, and doomed you to your fate. Your father died sealing my entity into you, believing you would be treated as a hero for containing me. But I saw his discouraged eyes before he fell. He knew it would never happen; he was only trying to ease his own conscience by telling himself that stupid lie. But your mother was even worse. Right after Yondaime fell, she committed suicide, not even bothering to spare a thought to what would happen to you after you were left alone. They denied you your real clan name and heritance thanks to their own selfishness. They chose to leave you alone to grow up under the hateful glares of their beloved villagers."**_

"_They didn't abandon me… They left me in the care of Sarutobi-jiichan…"_

_The demon grinned, baring his canines. __**"And what has he done for you exactly? Fed you, clothed you and kept you warm and happy?"**_

_The Kyuubi knew he was strongly manipulating the girl, but he truly needed her to accept his offer if they were ever going to survive. And if she did, there was no turning back for her, and he would be able to move a bit more freely inside of her. Besides, it would be interesting to see how tonight would affect the girl's psyche. Rape, assault and a betrayal all in one night… A lonely, hated six-year-old with no one to comfort her… The years ahead seemed quite interesting. The best strategy to manipulate her would've definitely been posing as her friend, but the demon had no patience for that. This trauma and the mental scars she would have worked well enough for the Kyuubi's advantage._

"_**You are seriously underweight, your clothes tonight were old and worn-out and you have never been happy. He didn't even pay enough attention to your protection to prevent such low class ninjas from almost killing you. Although he was most likely being pressured by the majority of the people, he still had a choice and he ended up siding with the village against you."**_

"_He…" Naruto's voice was starting to crack. This was too much. It was too cruel. Not Sarutobi… not the only person she had ever trusted… the only one she cared for… who was supposed to care for her…_

"_What about all those smiles and the birthday gifts he gave me? They meant something! I know he cares about me!"_

_The fox eyed her coldly from behind his bars. __**"Gifts are often given not to make another person happy, but to soothe your own bad conscience. And even if he did care about you, it doesn't matter anymore, does it? You can't trust him any longer, now that you know what he has been hiding from you all those years. Face it Naruto, you are alone. You will always be because of me, and we can't get rid of each other. That's why, instead, we should learn to interact and work well together. It would benefit us both greatly."**_

"_I hate you! I want nothing to do with you!"_

_The Kyuubi cackled cruelly, delighted by her passionate nature. __**"Just like I hate and want nothing to do with you, brat, but unfortunately for us both, we are stuck. For now at least. So for the time being, it would be safer for us to work together. It's possible now that the seal has been forced to allow my chakra trough. If you meet me in the halfway, I will be able to crack the surface of this seal enough so that we can communicate not only when you're almost dead, but whenever we want to."**_

_Naruto scowled angrily, deep in thought. "How do I know you're not lying to me about everything like everyone else? You said you had never before been able to see outside, so how did you know about what happened to my parents?"_

"_**The seal was vulnerable for the first few days," **__he explained.__** "I attempted to escape several times, but my tries were unsuccessful. I heard a lot of interesting things at that time though." **__The demon smirked, pleased by the challenge Naruto offered. The girl was definitely not slow or stupid. He would have to take that into his calculations when he manipulated her in the future. For he had decided, if and until a way to break the seal completely appeared, he was going to live his life through her. He would make her vicious. He would make her a ruthless killing machine. He would shape her personality and strength to his own liking and take away any chance of happiness that she might have had._

_Naruto tried in vain to stop her tears, but it was fruitless. She was shaking all over. "What if I don't want to live? I don't have a reason to… What if I just want forget everything and die?"_

_The Kyuubi didn't even wince at the threat. He knew had her now. __**"Just because your life doesn't currently have a purpose that satisfies you, it doesn't mean you can't find something interesting to do while you live. Naruto, you are already a very special kit. Would you like me to make you even more special?"**_

The mentally broken blonde brought her blue eyes down and sniffed. For a moment she was very still, and everything was silent. And then, very slowly, almost hesitantly, she nodded. The demon fox grinned, and his booming laughter filled her ears as the red chakra enclosed around her. She wasn't afraid. If he had tricked her, she would probably die. If not, she would live. It was all the same for her. She didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore.

------------

Notes:

1. Naruto calls Sarutobi _jiji_ and jiichan because he was the only person in the whole village who cared about her, and he also happens to be old and male.

2. About Naruto's seal in this story... it was designed so that Kyuubi would not be able to reach Naruto or the outside world at all unless Naruto's life was in extreme danger. Naruto's agreement to Kyuubi's deal, however, changes that completely. Yondaime was not aware of this possibility when he sealed the fox into her. He also didn't know Kyuubi could leak his power trough the seal little by little, and so affect Naruto's growth. This is simply because he could not predict every possibility of events, because he was sealing something as powerful and unpredictable as Kyuubi.

In the next chapter: Naruto wakes up in the hospital and decisions are made…


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again! Here's chap 2 for my new story. I outright don't like some parts of it, but whatever. I don't have the patience to rewrite it. For your information, chapter one and two are only outlines for the story, the real thing starts in chapter three. There are just so many things that I need to get out of the way before I can start the actual story. I'm not too experienced with writing long stories, and if you guys think this is crappy, then I'm sorry. I promise I'll improve over time. Okay, I don't promise, but I'll try. So, this chapter is pretty boring, nothing interesting happening yet, but I hope you'll like it anyway.

Some things you might be wondering about... About Naruto being powerful: I'm not gonna make her invincible (even though she wants to be), but she will be very strong. If you read my note in the beginning of the first chap, then you know already a bit about it. Some things will be explained in this chapter. About pairings: Naruto will be paired up with someone, but I ain't gonna tell you who it is. About Naruto's personality: in this chap, she'll make a U-turn from what she used to be.

Thanks for all the reviews. Comments truly make my day (if they don't make me cry, which thankfully has so far never happened). And now I'll stop all the crap. I probably forgot about some things I wanted to say, but whatever. I'm tired, it's 5.30 a.m. here.

(NOTE: This chapter has been edited.)

I don't own Naruto, and blah, blah, blah...

For a Reason to Exist

Chapter Two — Exist to Hate

The day she opened her eyes for the first time was unusually bright and warm for a winter day. She found herself lying on a hospital bed, tucked under covers, hooked to a drip. The surrounding environment was so white that she had to blink several times to get her unstrained eyes used to the light. Then the sounds and the scents hit her, and she had to grimace. It felt uncomfortable, because she was unused to such sharp senses. Humans really were_ ungifted_. In exchange for their smarts, God had dulled their senses, and they didn't even understand how vulnerable they were. Just like the fox had told her. But now, her nose and ears were as sharp as an animal's, and the information her brains were receiving overwhelmed her momentarily. The air smelled of medicine and people, and the sounds from in and outside the hospital spoke of the life everywhere around her.

After a while of getting used to her new abilities, Naruto concentrated and let her senses travel. She could feel the chakra signatures of the two ANBU outside the door, most likely there to guard her. There was no one else nearby, no doctors or patients. She guessed it was because of her identity. Maybe they were afraid that she would go on a crazy killing spree again. How funny…

Naruto sat up, stretching her limbs, and rubbed her eyes. Then, she raised her left hand for herself to see, and examined it closely. Yup, it was just as the fox had told her. There, as a replacement of her own arm, was another one. And not just any other, but the Kyuubi's, altered to the shape of a human arm. It was the color of red, with claws instead of fingernails, and the kind of power within which Naruto had never even imagined existed. It was as evil as the nature of the demon it belonged to, seething under the skin, ready to destroy anything the moment she called upon its strength. Naruto lifted the short sleeve of the hospital gown and studied her shoulder. The new red skin had grown together with the normal one flawlessly, and the only thing that distinguished it from the rest of her body was the color line. Naruto was very happy with it, the Kyuubi had done well. She had actually doubted the demon's skills a little, fearing she would wake up with a hairy, animalistic arm, but the fox knew the structure of a human body surprisingly well.

And now, she was getting anxious to see what her new eye looked like. Was it red and the pupil streaked like the fox's? Probably, she thought, and knew she would have to keep it closed while around others, or they would torment her even more. And if anything, what she did not want was to draw attention to herself at this point.

The eye, like her arm, held that same viciousness, and Naruto was curious to try out its power on people. That would have to wait though, possibly for a very long time. But she had patience.

Suddenly, her ears picked up a sound and she smelled a human male nearing.

'_Three… two…' _she counted as she heard the hurried steps of a man approaching. And as she reached one, the door opened and a medic stepped in cautiously, the two ANBU behind him.

She stared at them, as they stared at her, and the tension in the air was so deep she could actually inhale it. A look of annoyance crossed her face.

"Water," she rasped, only now realizing how dry her throat felt.

Her voice broke the spell and the medic quickly sent one of the ANBU to get her something to drink and send a word out to the Hokage. Then, the man approached her, eyeing her left arm suspiciously.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her stiffly, as he attempted to start her examination. He looked quite unhappy, being in such a close distance with her.

Naruto swiftly moved away from his reach, feeling irritated and exposed in her condition, and debated with herself about answering him. He hated her like everyone else in the village, and on top of that, he was male, and therefore, untrustworthy and a threat. If she told him she was feeling weak, he might take advantage of her vulnerable condition and do something to her. And that, Naruto had sworn, would never happen again. No man would ever be allowed to touch her again, she would kill them before they could reach her. The same rule went with this one.

And that's why she decided to lie to him. Her expression changed from sullen to a smirk. "Powerful," she replied to him, pleased to see him flinch away. The ANBU at the door reached for his sword, just in case she would decide to demonstrate.

"I see," the medic muttered icily, slowly trying to approach her once more. Even if she said that, the Hokage would be displeased if he left her unexamined. But the girl evaded his hands again.

"Don't touch me," she growled, and stood up from the bed, yanking off the drip, and backed away.

The medic, annoyed by her behavior, frowned. "I need to examine you."

"I told you I'm fine!"

"It's Hokage-sama's orders. You don't have a choice."

Naruto scowled, baring her newly grown fangs. She crouched down, ready to defend herself if needed. "Like hell I'll let you touch me!"

The medic was looking quite frustrated now, but the bird-masked ANBU behind him seemed to understand what was going on better. He put a hand on the medic's shoulder to get his attention.

"Maybe you should get a woman to examine her," he said quietly, and understanding dawned upon the doctor's face.

"Watch her. We can't have her losing control again," he told him, and left the room at the same time as the other, rabbit-masked ANBU returned and placed a bottle of water on the table next to the bed. Naruto quickly grabbed it, and speedily retreated to the furthest corner of the room. She sniffed the contents, which did not go unnoticed by the ninjas in the room, and decided the water was drinkable. It didn't take long for her to finish it.

And it didn't take long for her to throw it up either. She doubled over on the floor, supporting herself with her arms, and glared at the men. Had there been something in the water after all? Naruto was feeling too weak to get up, and was quite certain they would now attempt to finish her off. She gritted her teeth and an animalistic growl escaped her lips.

The bird-masked ANBU looked at his comrade confusedly and the other man shrugged. He didn't understand why the water had had such an effect on her. Suddenly, the door opened and a female medic hurried in, her face stern. The second she spotted Naruto's fallen figure on the floor, she rushed to her side, and firmly, ignoring the girl's struggles, carried her back to the bed.

"What happened?" the question was directed at the two ANBU.

They both shrugged, and the rabbit-masked one explained. "I brought her a bottle of water, she drank it and then suddenly threw up."

The woman nodded, bending down to examine her more closely. Naruto resisted a bit, but finally gave up and let the medic check her up. It didn't take very long, and Naruto was satisfied when she finally backed away. The people in the room, herself included, were waiting to hear her diagnosis.

"She's fine," the woman stated and turned to face her again. "You just drank that water a little too fast. You've been unconscious for such a long time your stomach isn't used to it. You need to take it slow."

"How long was I out?"

"You have been in coma for the past two months." Neither her expression nor her voice gave out any indication of distaste about being around Naruto. Actually, her posture completely lacked emotions, and only professionalism and expertise radiated from her. This intrigued Naruto. No one had ever been so indifferent towards her before. It was… relieving in a way. It was nice to know at least a few people like her existed in the village.

But to think she had been out for so long… Naruto knew she would have woken up much earlier, had she been willing, but she had purposely averted it. While spending time in her own mind, wondering the corridors of the sewer, she had many times felt a sort of pull, but she always resisted it. Instead of waking up, she had wanted to be left alone, to think and to lick her mental wounds.

She had been so broken, so confused and depressed. She had spent a very long time just grieving, crying her eyes out and hugging her knees to her chest. She was tainted, she was dirty… sullied… ruined… The three men had broken her to pieces. They had humiliated her in a way no one could understand.

She had rubbed and scratched herself until she bled, only to have her wounds healed a second later. She had banged the walls with her fists until her bones were broken, only to have them repaired within a minute. Nothing helped to ease the pain in her heart. She had tried to keep her mind focused on the things the Kyuubi had talked to her about, concentrating in the anger instead of the hurt, and succeeded to a level, but always in the back of her mind that one thing haunted her. The feeling of something intruding her body was burned into her mind forever.

At times, she had gotten so tired of her emotions that she just screamed. It helped momentarily, but later the hurt would always return to her.

Naruto had wondered around for a long time, finding nothing but empty corridors, until she reached a hall that branched off into at least twenty different corridors. She had randomly picked one, not caring if she couldn't find her way back, and walked. In the corridor, there were several chambers like the one the fox resided in, but instead of a cage, they each contained a memory. Watching and reliving her past, deep hatred had settled inside of her. She had concentrated on it readily.

After watching an uncountable amount of memories, Naruto had understood that she could probably find her whole life recorded in these chambers. It had amazed her. After some time, she had gathered an unimaginable quantity of loathing and bitterness within her heart, and decided she would never again be weak enough to be pushed around by the likes of the people of Konoha.

Then Naruto had made her way back to the Kyuubi, finding his chamber surprisingly easily, and spent the rest of the time with him, only returning to her memories when she got into an argument with the fox. This had lasted, until the demon had finally grown too irritated of her presence, and apparently awakened her as he threw her out.

And now she was conscious, back in the reality she had never wanted to return to.

The silence that had fallen after the medic's words was quickly broken as one more person entered the room. Immediately Naruto's face twisted into a hateful scowl. It was the Hokage.

"Is she alright?" he asked the medic promptly, and the woman nodded. Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief. "Would you excuse us?" he asked, and the medic and the two ANBU left without another word. Then, Sarutobi turned his gaze back to the blonde girl, and winced as he saw her hateful stare. He made his way to the only chair in the room, and sat down.

For a long time, they only watched each other and kept silent. The Hokage was trying to understand the girl's thoughts, and the girl was trying to kill the Hokage with her stare, disappointed to find that the ability wasn't among the powers of her new eye.

And finally, she grew tired of the tense silence. "If you have something to say, then say it and get out."

Sarutobi visibly grimaced at her words. "Naruto-chan, I am truly sorry—"

"Save it," the girl snapped, her fingers tearing through the hem of her hospital gown. "I don't care. I've heard enough lies to last for the rest of my life. If that's all you came to say, then just leave me alone."

Sarutobi looked at her, feeling helpless and guilty. What could he say? He _had _lied to her, and about something which had such a huge impact on her life. He deserved her anger.

"Our interrogation specialists dug the truth out of the three men who attacked you. I know what they did to you, and I am horrified. I am truly sorry that my lousy decision making led to this, Naruto-chan."

The girl frowned and looked away, turning her eyes to the window.

"What did you do to them?" she asked, carefully eliminating every bit of emotion from her voice.

"I had them executed for rape, assault and attempted murder, and for severely breaking the law."

"The law of silence, you mean," Naruto bitterly replied, and Sarutobi discreetly averted the girl's intense gaze. It was unnerving to look into her mismatched eyes.

He took out a small mirror from his pocket (somewhere in the kage robes), and held it out for the blonde. "Have you seen your eye yet?" he asked.

Naruto shook her head and took the mirror, careful to avoid any skin contact. Then, she looked at her reflection, and to Sarutobi's astonishment and horror, grinned in satisfaction. The eye was exactly as she had imagined it, to her great delight. The fox was really good with this stuff, she decided. There wasn't even a scar left.

The Hokage's voice brought her out from her admiration. "Naruto-chan, do you have any idea how this happened?" he asked, his voice concerned, and she knew he meant her arm and her eye.

"The fox gave them to me as a birthday present," she replied without hesitation, giving out no sign that she was joking. Sarutobi's expression was priceless, and before she could stop herself, a taunting laugh escaped her. She could feel that even the demon inside her was snickering at her quip.

As Sarutobi watched her, he grew increasingly certain that Naruto had been even more mentally damaged by the assault on her than he had thought, and that she needed help. It saddened him, but her behavior was more than enough to convince him. Sarutobi frowned, knowing he would have to confront the girl about it.

"Naruto-chan, I've arranged for a psychologist to help you through—"

"What?!" the girl exclaimed immediately, just as Sarutobi had assumed.

"Naruto-chan," he continued patiently. "I know you don't want to hear this, but after experiencing such a trauma, you need help. The doctors have told me that your body was ready to awaken mere days after the attack, and that it is likely that the psychological scars kept you unconscious for such a long time. You need someone to help you through this."

Naruto bared her fangs, a vicious sneer on her face. "No way, not in this lifetime. I don't need some unwilling shrink trying to diagnose me, categorize me, and mess with my head."

Sarutobi sighed. She was in denial. "Naruto-chan, you need help. You have been raped, brutally assaulted and mentally scarred. You are still in shock. Any woman would need consolation in your condition, and you are _only_ six-years-old. Please don't try to be tough about it."

Naruto stared at him, astounded. What the hell was wrong with the man? "I repeat, not in this lifetime. And that's final. If you try to force me, I'll kill the shrink. I can now, you know. I'm not weak anymore. And since when did my age matter? I've never been a normal child, only naïve."

Sarutobi studied her sorrowfully. Neither her voice nor her posture showed any hesitation. The sweet, innocent Naruto had disappeared somewhere out of his reach, and in her place sat a bitter, hateful girl, enfolded within her loneliness and anger and pain. She had withdrawn to her shell, absolutely resisting any help. On top of that, she truly did sound too old for her age. It was as if there was someone many years older possessing her. It was beyond him how this kind of a change in such a short time was even possible. It shouldn't have been. No six-year-old was supposed to possess such confidence and awareness as she did.

"I ask for you to reconsider," Sarutobi said quietly. "If you value your mental health, you'll do this."

But the answer was the same. "No. Try to force me, and you'll have the shrink's blood in your hands. And you don't want the Yondaime's legacy to become a murderer, do you?"

Sarutobi's eyes widened in shock. Now this was unexpected. "How do you know about that?" he asked hurriedly.

Naruto sneered. "Hmm… I think I'll keep it a secret from you. You couldn't handle it anyway, you're far too—something," she taunted him. Payback was a bitch. And this was only the beginning.

Sarutobi understood her words, and for the hundredth time regretted not telling her the truth. She had trusted him, completely relied on him, and what had he done? Lied to her and allowed her suffering to continue. It must have felt like a betrayal to her. And he couldn't take it back, no matter how much he wanted.

"Anything else you want to say before getting the hell out of here?"

Sarutobi sighed, defeated. He would apparently have to give up on Naruto getting help for now. There were other matters he had to discuss with her. Mainly, they were about her future.

"About your living arrangements… Are you willing to return to the orphanage, or shall I set up something else for you?"

It didn't take even a second for her to answer. "I want to live alone," she stated firmly.

"I see," Sarutobi replied thoughtfully. She _was_ capable of fending for herself, and having her go back to the orphanage would probably be the last straw. So he agreed. "Very well. I'll arrange for an apartment and set up an account for you in the bank. You will receive money every month to meet your needs."

The girl nodded expressionlessly.

"I would also like to know if you'd wish for me to enroll you in the ninja academy this year. You would be a bit behind the others your age, but I'm sure you'd be fast to catch up."

Naruto smirked. "Are you sure you want me to become a shinobi? I'm not exactly feeling very loyal to your village right now. Never will, probably."

Sarutobi considered this for a moment, but then nodded. "Yes. You need to be able to defend yourself and control your power. The Kyuubi can't be allowed to fall into the wrong hands."

"Then I have a suggestion. I am not willing to go to the academy, but I do want to become a ninja. Train me, and I'll become the ultimate weapon of this village."

Sarutobi raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "And why would you want to become that, Naruto-chan? You said it yourself, you have no love for Konoha."

"I want to become invincible. I want to be feared."

"Why?"

"Because that way people will leave me alone and stop bothering me."

Sarutobi observed her solemn expression. She was completely serious, he realized. "I'll think about it," he replied after a moment of hesitation.

Naruto looked satisfied. "And think well. Now, is there anything else or will you finally leave me alone and fuck off?"

The Hokage was beginning to stand up before he remembered something. Reaching into his pocket, he first took out the silver necklace he had once given to her, and then the metal flute. He placed them on the table, and then retreated to the door.

"These were found," he said, and exited, leaving the girl finally alone.

Naruto stared at the two objects. She felt very fragile all of a sudden, now that she didn't have to put on a façade of independence and toughness. Burying her face in her pillow, she concentrated on not falling apart right there and keeping her thoughts in her anger. Images danced under her closed eyelids as she recalled some particularly bad memories to fuel her hate. It took several minutes for her to calm down, before she was finally ready to focus her eyes on reality. She turned to stare at the door, and suddenly, completely spontaneously, grabbed the necklace and the flute.

"I don't want them!" she cried, sounding almost desperate, and threw them at the closed door, knowing full well that Sarutobi was already gone and couldn't hear her. The blonde felt exhaustion gradually creep over her, and she welcomed the blackness gratefully. She needed to escape the reality.

The next time she woke up, the two objects were once more sitting on her table, as if she had never even touched them.

---

Naruto was released quickly from the hospital, as she had no physical injuries to speak of. About a month later she learned about the Hokage's decision regarding her future as a ninja. He had agreed to her terms, although he was not going to train her himself most of the time, as he was far too busy. Instead, she was given several other teachers to all guide her in different things. One for basic chakra control, one for beginner's taijutsu and weapon handling, and one for the academic side of being a shinobi. None of the three seemed very willing, but still taught her well under the watchful eye of the Hokage. Later they would change into a sensei for ninjutsu, a sensei for genjutsu, and a sensei for taijutsu. And as the years passed and her skills grew, her teachers changed several times, sometimes because they absolutely refused to teach her anymore, and other times because she had surpassed them. Naruto never bothered to learn any of their names.

Emotionally, she was becoming more and more sadistic and withdrawn, trusting no one and detesting men especially. She kept her left eye closed at all times, sometimes covering it with a bandana, and wore thick bandages around her left arm, starting from her shoulder an reaching down to hide away everything down to her fingertips. People, after learning she was now aware of the demon sealed within her, feared and hated her even more fiercely and made an extra effort to avoid her. No one tried to attack her ever again.

By the age of ten, Naruto was as strong as a jounin, and nearly as vicious as the demon within her. In the middle of training, sleeping and handling all the other chores and things she had to do, she spent long moments meditating, visiting the Kyuubi and having lengthy conversations with him. They argued a lot and often claimed that they hated each other, but underneath it all, Naruto knew the demon was the only one in the whole world that she could trust, although that was only because he was dependant on her. In truth, she knew he didn't care for her as a person at all, and was reliable only because they were stuck together and it was a matter of life and death for him.

Sarutobi had many times tried to reach out to her, to gain her friendship again, but she never let him succeed. He was untrustworthy and trash to her. No one but herself mattered to Naruto anymore. She hated people, as they hated her, and had as little to do with them as possible. Only devoting herself to becoming the village's ultimate weapon, she lived inside a bubble that only consisted of her teachers, the Hokage, the Kyuubi and herself, always training and striving to become invincible. The fear that was sometimes pictured on people's faces gave her sick satisfaction.

Sometimes she went to a mission with one of her sensei' and ended up eliminating all the threats and targets by herself instead of her teacher, whom the mission had been handed to. Killing was a pleasure for her. Killing was easy after she had done it the first time that fateful night four years ago.

Everything about her existence only proved further her view of life; some people were born to wither, and for others to be happy, someone had to suffer. Naruto had vowed to never let anyone step on her again. She would not be the prey anymore; instead she would become the predator. Many times, she ended up proving her resolve, and the results were not pretty.

At eleven, Naruto started to train constantly alone, never allowing anyone near her when she was at it. It became increasingly difficult for Sarutobi to keep her within human contact, as she liked to isolate herself for long periods of time. Also, he had to consider the possibility that she was somehow communicating with the demon inside her. It was very unlikely, as the seal had been designed so that the fox could not reach her, but he wasn't willing to rule out the possibility. The girl was slipping from his influence, and he had to do something. It was at this point in time that he made a big decision concerning her life.

He decided to place her in one of the next graduating genin teams. Sarutobi knew she would resist, but he had made up his mind and would not reconsider. This could be his last chance to bring her out of her darkness. Informing her would be tough, but regardless, the Hokage did not waver in his decision. He would do anything it took to keep the girl from completely losing her humanity. He cared for her too much to just ignore what was happening to her.

However, he would have to deeply consider the sensei and the teammates he chose for her. Naruto would work better with a female jounin, but unfortunately she had already surpassed all three candidates who had volunteered to take on a team this year, so her sensei would have to be male. Sarutobi sighed. This would create problems.

Her team mates would also have to be smart and capable, or she would quickly deem them useless and ignore them completely, most likely ending up leaving them to die if they got into trouble on a mission. It might also be good if she wasn't the only girl, even if the teams usually consisted of two males and one female.

For several weeks, Sarutobi pondered this problem, and finally decided he would wait to see the final test scores, before he made up his mind.

Nevertheless, Naruto would have to be informed about it soon, or else she would feel he had once again betrayed her trust—whatever little trust there was left anymore, if any at all. Truthfully, Sarutobi knew it wouldn't matter how and when he would let the girl know, she would still regard this as a trap that had been set for her. There was no way to have her willingly obey.

As Naruto's twelfth birthday neared, Sarutobi begun to seriously plan how he would make it work. He would need to prepare both parties well for the future. Naruto would require extra patience from her new sensei and solitude from her teammates. They would need to understand that Naruto was dangerous, and that they would have to give her her own space. Also, Sarutobi would have to come up with some kind of a reason for his decision, which the girl too would accept as passable. Otherwise, Naruto would probably do everything she could to get her team killed so that she could be rid of them. Sarutobi did not want that.

This whole plan was a huge gamble, and he knew it, but it had to be done. Naruto could be very unpredictable and her mind was unstable. He had to do everything he could to keep her from slipping away. He had to keep her on the light side, or she would someday become truly hollow.

---

It was October 10th once more, and the day was grey with heavy rain clouds, just waiting to pour down from the sky. In the past, Sarutobi had viewed this day as a good day, enjoying the village's good spirit and the happy faces he encountered on the streets, but exactly six years ago, all that had changed. Now the day had become something he almost dreaded. Every year he would remember how he had betrayed the trust of a little six-year-old girl who had completely relied on him for everything. He had lied to her, and so lost her. It was the biggest regret of his life, for that girl had become one of the most important people in his heart. She was not only the daughter of his dear friend and successor, but also the one who had brightened his world for six years, before she was struck by tragedy. But alas, no matter how Sarutobi grieved, he could not turn back time and correct his mistakes. The only thing left to do now was to try and make up for them.

It was a hard day for Naruto too, and Sarutobi knew that every year she would spend it hiding away in absolute solitude, carefully avoiding any kind of human contact. Normally Sarutobi respected her need to be alone and gave to her the privacy she demanded, only stopping by behind her door to leave her birthday present there, but this year would be different. He had decided that beginning with this day, everything was going to change. It didn't matter what Naruto thought about it, Sarutobi had made up his mind. Today would be the last day she would spend alone, wallowing in her hatred and darkness. He owned that much to her, even if she didn't realize he was doing it for her own good.

Today he would finally reveal his plans to Naruto. Dreading the upcoming meeting, he had sent a word to her by one of their message birds, telling her that he wanted her presence in his office. And Naruto did come, although unhurriedly unlike all the other ninjas when they were summoned.

"What?" she asked him moodily, not bothering with greetings. She appeared tired and grumpy, with a scowl on her face. Her short, blonde hair was messy and uncombed and her one unclosed eye looked suspiciously red and puffy, like she had been crying. Sarutobi felt worry stirring inside him.

"If you're just going to keep staring at me, I'm going to leave, bastard."

Sarutobi, after dealing with her adopted attitude for several years, had learned to ignore her rudeness and temper. And so, he paid no mind to her crudeness. Preparing for the storm he knew would be coming, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Naruto, I've summoned you here to tell you about a decision I've made concerning you life."

The blonde lifted an eyebrow, sneering.

"I've made the decision to place you in a genin team once this year's class graduates."

It was silent for a moment, and something seemed to glint in the girl's eyes, before she blew up, just as Sarutobi had predicted.

"What?!" she shouted, stunned for a second. Then her expression turned furious and she strode over to his desk and slammed her fist on it with such brute strength that a dent was created. "What the fuck are you spouting?!"

Sarutobi flinched back a little as she yelled at him, and listened to her outburst. Had he not been the Hokage, he was sure she would have already physically assaulted him. The girl ranted to him about many things, until she finally ran out of breath and had to stop to gasp for air. Sarutobi used this opportunity to speak.

"My decision is final, Naruto. I am giving you no choice in the matter."

She stared at him, unbelieving. "You cannot be serious," she hissed trough her teeth and clenched her fists. Her whole figure seemed to be shaking with hard suppressed rage.

"I am."

"Why?" she asked, her voice so sharp Sarutobi almost felt like it pierced right through him.

"Because I want you to learn about teamwork," Sarutobi replied, and after a moment, added: "I also want to display your power to the other nations. I want you to enter the next chuunin exam and demonstrate of the strength of Konoha's youth, and in order for you to be able to participate, you need to be placed in a genin team."

The tense silence seemed to last forever as Sarutobi sat under the girl's cold stare, but then, finally, Naruto jerked away from his desk and marched to the door, a furious frown pictured on her face, both eyes open. She didn't turn to face him, but Sarutobi could still hear her words very well.

"Fine. But you better consider carefully who you put in my team. And don't think for a second that I'll be doing any fucking D-ranks, no matter how weak the idiots in my team are. And you can forget about that team work test the genins usually have to take before they truly graduate."

Sarutobi felt the urge to sigh in relief. She had taken it better than he had imagined. "Alright."

"And one more thing," Naruto hissed, still facing the door. "If my team mates are not ready to take the exam in three months after graduation, I'll kill them myself."

With those words, she walked out, leaving the Hokage to stare in her wake and consider her declaration. She had said three months, apparently knowing about the chuunin exam that was being held in Konoha exactly in that time after the new teams graduated. Sarutobi had no doubt that she had been dead serious about what she had said. If not by her own hand, Naruto was certainly cunning enough to arrange some other method to rid her poor teammates of their dear lives. This _could _pose a slight problem, but as always, Sarutobi was positive that he would come up with a suitable solution. He would have to ask the academy teachers for more details about the students.

But that could wait until tomorrow. Right now he was just very happy that the only thing to suffer Naruto's wrath had been his desk. He would not run out of those any time soon, as she kept breaking them every time he delivered her what she considered bad news.

"Well… that went rather nicely," he sighed, and took out a bottle of sake from underneath his desk. He needed a drink so he could relax better. Maybe he would also take a look at those novels his former student had been sending him lately…

---

Naruto was wearing a satisfied grin on her face as she travelled the rooftops, heading for her apartment. Alright, so this had not been her original goal, and truthfully it annoyed the hell out of her, but it still suited her plans fine. She had needed a way to demonstrate her power anyway. So why not in the chuunin exam? She wouldn't need to deal with those "teammates" of hers for too long, if luck was on her side. Actually, on a second thought, to hell with luck—she would _arrange _it that way.

That old idiot Sarutobi wasn't thinking much, was he? Or was he just so easy to manipulate? If she thought about it, he was actually doing exactly as she wanted him to. Oh, and it was so easy. Just show him a little bitterness, a little hatred, and the man will grow guilt-ridden and desperate in no time. Just tell them what they want to hear, and everything is easy. She had such an influence on him, and he didn't even realize it. What an old fool.

Okay, so all the emotions she showed him were true—but using them in the correct ways, it was easy enough to have people dancing to her strings. Fear, hurt, happiness—everything could be used to gain what she wanted. The man was eating straight from her hand. He had easily overlooked her warning about not being loyal to Konoha from all those years ago. He must have been desperate.

To place her in a genin team, no doubt so she would come to understand what she was missing and how much good friendship and such crap had to offer, was an unwise move on the Hokage's part. First of all, it might cost him the lives of those put in her team, and secondly, demonstrating her power in the chuunin exam would not only have an effect on the other nations, but in Konoha's ninjas and citizens too. To Naruto, that didn't matter—to her it was actually better that way—but to Sarutobi's goals concerning her, they were risky. If everyone feared her even more than they already did, no one would be willing to get to know her. The hate both parties held for each other would just increase tenfold.

The old man must have known that he was gambling with very high stakes.

Even if the thought of having teammates and a sensei was annoying, it brought Naruto closer to her goals. She'd go along with it, play her part, and then arrange an _accident_.

Reaching her goals would be easier than she had imagined.

Which at this point in time, however, were not yet completely clear to her.

She had many things she wanted to accomplish. The first and foremost was of course making every single villager and shinobi in Konoha fear her. If they were afraid, Naruto's possible future career as a missing nin would become much easier to bring about and maintain.

Next came the much harder part: revenge. This was a tricky one, as there were quite many things she had to work out before it could take place. How to plot the destruction of the mighty Leaf? That was a question Naruto had yet to come up with an answer to. Making herself invincible was of course the first step, but no matter how strong she was, she couldn't do it alone. Even the great Kyuubi hadn't managed it. No, to make this happen, Naruto would need help. But from who? She wasn't allowed to leave the village alone, and escaping at this point in time would be a suicide. There were still ninjas in the village who could overpower her, and a betrayal from the demon brat would not be something the council would forgive and forget. Even if she was spared from execution, she would remain forever under the watchful eyes of the old farts sitting on their asses in the Hokage-tower. They would watch her every move closely. Or actually, just a hell of a lot _more _closely than they already did.

But Naruto had patience for this matter. She could wait. For fuck's sake, she had waited six years for this kind of an opportunity—even another six would not be a problem. Naruto had no other goals for her life except to have her revenge on those who denied a normal one from her. Even if the guiltiest three of the bunch were already long dead, it didn't make the rest of the village innocent.

Once Naruto had wondered if she was selfish, plotting to destroy so many lives—many innocent people among them—to avenge just one which happened to be her own, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Life was unfair, shit happened every day. Bad things happened to good people and innocent died every day. After years of thinking, Naruto had reached one conclusion: life had no higher meaning. Life existed because nature demanded it, and death existed so there was a balance. Selfishness was a survival instinct, it was nothing to be ashamed of. Fear existed as a defense mechanism, and free will due to strength—one couldn't possess them both at the same time. Some people were weak and born to wither, but she wasn't. Not anymore. She had gotten rid of her conscience and vulnerability, killed them off with the eager help of the Kyuubi.

The chuunin exams would be a fine stepping stone on Naruto's way to her goals. She would have the opportunity to create havoc and fear, and maybe, if she was lucky, she could even find someone who would secretly align with her to bring about the destruction of Konoha.

And knowing all this made her very content right now.

For once, she was having a good 10th of October.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi sweeties! I'm here again. I'm being really fast with these updates for some reason (I'm usually too unmotivated to do anything useful). Guess I've just been really bored lately (and the reviews are so motivating). I'm never really doing anything useful in the summer holidays, I don't even have summer job... But, that's good for you guys, right? Now about this chapter... I lied to you last time when I said the real story would start in this chap, sorry! I didn't intend to write it like I did, but this is how it turned out. Whatever...

I hope no one out there has anything against yuri, since there are hints of that in this chapter. But anyway, you don't have to worry about it, Naruto will be paired up with a guy eventually. And for people who want to know more about the pairing, I will tell you that I haven't yet decided who the lucky lad will be, but I've picked the candidates. But I am NOT telling you who they are. I'll use whoever fits my story best (and whoever of them I like the most at that time), and it'll be a surprise.

If you still remember, I told you before that I got the inspiration for this story from another fic, but couldn't recall the name of it at the time I put up chap one. Thanks for RobotPirateNinja for giving me the name of that wonderful story. It's called "Brutality", and the author is Viperflamer.

Thank you very much for all the reviews and keep them coming, please!

(NOTE: This chapter has been edited.)

I don't own Naruto, and blah, blah, blah...

For a Reason to Exist

Chapter Three — Noodles, Noodles!

Naruto's eyes narrowed as she viewed the files in front of her. She had no idea why, but from time to time, she felt the need to dig them out from the mess inside her drawer and take a look at them. Naruto truly did not know _why_ she wanted to do that—she just did. And every single time, she merely stared at them, bit her lip, and stared. Of course, staring at them did not change anything, but even so, she couldn't get her eyes off them. She wanted to rip the files in pieces and burn the remains, but at the same time was unable to do so. What was stopping her, she couldn't understand.

Naruto blinked, trying to force away the annoying anger. She was sitting on her futon, sipping tea, looking at the two folders in front of her. The spring was unusually hot this year, and the wildlife outside her window was blossoming. The birds, which most of the people found adorable, were annoying the hell out of her with their chirping. She wouldn't move to close the window, however, as she was far too concentrated on other things at the moment.

Naruto put her tea away, and picked up the first of the folders. It was named "Inoue Kushina". She opened it, took out the papers inside and spread them in front of her. Quickly going through them, she found the ones she was looking for, and set the others out of the way. Naruto had read all of them so many times that she could almost remember them word by word, but it didn't stop her from feeling the need to read them again and again.

The file was filled with all sorts of information of this woman called Inoue Kushina. From the date of her birth to her death, inside the file were included many medical records, all the official information about her and a picture, as well as some "unofficial" info. She had originally been an orphan from a simple farmer family and then a jounin of Konohagakure, trained one team of genins during her life, and finally died before her time at the age of twenty five.

"_No known relatives……Cause of death… suicide…_"

But the important part was—

"…_Gave birth to a child……given the name Uzumaki (Naruto) after the father…… _"

Naruto bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Uzumaki. That was the name they had given her. Not Namikaze. Not even Inoue.

_Uzumaki_.

It was her name. She couldn't change that, and in the end, truthfully she didn't even want to. She had no other connection to her parents but her blood, and even that was too much for her. The only feelings she held for the two of them were hate and bitterness. So why befoul herself with their names?

But if that was really the case, if it was truly her opinion, then why did she keep looking at their files time after time? Naruto frowned. Maybe she really _should_ destroy them. If for no other reason, then at least to get the annoying, confusing emotions out of her chest.

Sighing, she took the single picture from amongst the papers and looked at it. There, a pretty redhead with pale blue eyes gazed back at her, wearing a cheerful smile on her smooth face. It was the only picture of her mother that Naruto possessed, and even from that single one it was easy to spot the resemblance between herself and the woman. Naruto seemed to have inherited her face and skin tone and thin figure.

Naruto's hair color and eyes, however, were from her father. It was obvious to see when she looked at any picture of the Yondaime. They had the same eyes—or should she say _eye_, as she no longer had the other one. Good riddance, was Naruto's opinion—she hated her blue eye anyway, very much preferring the red, demonic one.

One wouldn't guess by looking at her (or from her arrogant attitude), but Naruto hated the way she looked. She hated her blonde hair and so, one day, she had simply decided to cut it off. Even now she kept it short, only letting it grow as long as a couple of inches. It was spiky and wild and impossible to tame, and she hated it. Naruto hated her face, too. Even though she had never had any skin problems or anything alike, she just couldn't stand the sight of herself. Her nose, her lips, her jaw… she didn't like them. They were too much like _those two_… That was why, unlike most people, she rarely bothered to look at herself in the mirror before heading out. She was ugly and it wasn't going to change, so there was no need to waste her time by gawking at her reflection. Indeed, the only things she found beautiful about her body were the red left eye and arm, and maybe her whisker marks.

But despite her hatred for her looks, Naruto wasn't insecure. She had no need for beauty, only power. She wanted to be invincible, and thus, invisible. She wanted to be lost within the masses—she wanted to be truly alone.

Numb to their words. Obvious to their glares. Deaf to their whispers.

Most of the time, anyway.

But someone wise had once said that the best defense is a good offence, and Naruto went by that rule wholeheartedly. But there were still things she had to perfect about her "armor", and Naruto's irritating desire to know things about her parents more than proved it. She was still vulnerable in many ways.

Naruto put her mother's picture down and stood up. Making her way to the kitchen, she decided it was time for a late supper, and then sleep. She would have to get up early the next morning to train.

Naruto's small apartment was mostly bare of any furniture and other things unrelated to training and her daily needs, but somehow she still managed to keep it almost freakishly untidy. Scrolls, clothes and dirty dishes were everywhere, and it was dusty and filthy. But Naruto hardly minded. She didn't pay much attention to such trivial things (trivial to _her_, that is), although the dust clouds, when she moved around too carelessly, did make her sneeze at times.

Not another soul but herself and Sarutobi had ever stepped inside her apartment since she had moved in. Also, the building where the Hokage had arranged for her to live had started emptying of tenants _suspiciously_ fast after she had come to live in her apartment. No need to say that the landlord hadn't been too pleased with her or the Hokage. For some reason though, Naruto hadn't been kicked out to the streets quite yet, and now she lived in a practically deserted building on the poorer side of Konoha, with birds, rats and stray cats as her only neighbors. But she was content with her living arrangements. At least here she had her own space and the solitude she wanted.

But that was about to change. She would no longer be allowed to live inside her bubble, in this reality she had created for herself.

She had thought of the past twelve months as blessed days within this hell called life, for they had no doubt been the best times of her existence. During this time she had become colder, her heart more frozen and her mind more aloof, and it had felt like a numbing medicine, a force growing a final, invisible wall between "her and them". During those blessed days she had been allowed to live as she pleased and she had been allowed to be alone. But those days were now at an end. That wall was about to come undone. It wouldn't be long now before this year's graduates would take their final exams, and then she would be swept from her feet, from the grounds she was comfortable on, and forced into a strange world called "reality". Actually, if she remembered correctly, it would be that time in about three weeks.

Naruto grimaced. How did she always manage to spoil her mood by doing something stupid like looking at her parents' files or thinking about depressing things like becoming a real genin? And why did that sound so ironic? It should have been the other way around, she mused, but then again, _normality_ had nothing to do with _reality_, or so they said.

And where the hell had all the food gone? Naruto sighed loudly and frowned. It seemed like she had forgotten to buy groceries _again_. And due to the consequences of this bad habit, she was now becoming quite moody. An empty stomach was one thing she absolutely _hated_. Maybe it was because of her constant training, but she required large amounts of food every day, otherwise she got underweight very quickly. It was as if her body spent more calories than it had time to consume. It was rather annoying, as Naruto rarely had a very good appetite. She thought of food as something to keep her body going rather than anything to enjoy. If it was unnecessary, she would prefer to not eat at all. But unfortunately it was required, and right now especially, as Naruto could hear her stomach grumbling.

"Shut up!" she snapped at it, ignoring how silly it probably sounded. Sometimes, when she talked to her complaining stomach while being around other people, they started goggling at her anxiously like she was going snap at any moment, ready run away at any given sign. They probably thought she was talking to the beast within her. But no, sadly she and the fox could still not communicate unless she concentrated very hard, and meditating was essential for that. But it was fun to watch their horrified expressions. Even in this world of darkness, Naruto had found ways to make light of things.

But nothing was fun or satisfying when she was hungry, and therefore she now decided she would need to go out and buy those damned groceries so she could have something to eat. And so, cursing under her breath, Naruto returned to her bedroom and bandaged her left arm carefully (thank heavens she had long ago learned to do it quickly), grabbed her money and then took off from her small balcony, travelling on the rooftops. Heading towards the closest convenience store that had relatively cheap prices—the money she received monthly was enough for her as long as she didn't waste it in unnecessary luxuries (in her case, new weapons)—she wondered what to buy. Something cheap and easy and fast and filling…

It was an exhilarating experience to feel the wind against her face as she dashed from roof to roof. The sky was getting dark and Naruto felt unusually calm. Working her body always did make her forget about everything stressful and even simple the running and jumping from one rooftop to another helped her relax.

But her calm was broken quickly by a frightened scream that Naruto's sharp ears picked up easily, and she halted curiously. Heading to her left, she jumped down to ground level to investigate. Normally she wouldn't have bothered, but today she was feeling oddly… what? Well, maybe just odd.

It was quite easy for Naruto to locate the source of the scream with her alert senses, and she stopped to observe the scene from a safe distance, disguising her presence with care. There in her view, three men were harassing a young brown-haired girl who looked to be on the verge of tears. One of the men had grabbed her arm and appeared to be trying to drag her somewhere, but the girl was fighting back furiously. The other two men were laughing at their friend's struggle.

"Let go of me!" the girl shouted, trying fruitlessly to get away from the man's grip.

"See, Maki, the gal clearly doesn't like ya. But then, who would with that ugly mug ya call ya face," one of the men sniggered.

"Shut the fuck up!" the man called "Maki" replied angrily. He seemed to have finally reached his limit of patience with the girl's endless struggling, and brought his hand down on her, slapping her hard enough to send her to the ground.

"Ya gonna take her finally? We ain't got the whole night," said the third man, as he eyed their surroundings tensely.

And this was where Naruto's blood ran cold. Take her, meaning… _rape her_? Were they really planning to…? They couldn't. It wasn't something you could just do to another person. Naruto held no warmth in her heart for the women of Konoha, but she knew the pain of being violated like that. Men were such pigs… She _despised_ them. Every single one of them.

Naruto closed her eyes and tried to breathe deep, as some very unpleasant memories surfaced.

_Pain, pain, pain, pain_..._ Screams, and laughing, and blood, and more blood. Lots of blood, _too_ much blood. And they called her a demon, over and over again. 'No! LET ME GO! NO!'_

Naruto bit her lip. The brown-haired girl was on her back on the ground, crying, with the man called Maki on top of her. He was lifting up her skirt and sliding down his own pants, and his fingers were travelling and stroking roughly, his palms touching her thighs…

_The feeling of something intruding her body_… The years hadn't dimmed her memory. Naruto remembered it so very clearly.

The brown-haired girl was screaming and crying, trying to fight off the man above her, but he was too strong for her. The two others were on both of her sides, enjoying what they saw, maybe waiting for their own turn.

And Naruto couldn't watch anymore.

_She was tainted, she was dirty_…_ foul and repulsive_…_ ruined_…

She remembered all too well how it felt. She was supposed to be cold and uncaring, but…

The moment seemed to drag on forever, until—

Everything happened so quickly that Naruto didn't understand what she had done until the two _living_ men started staggering away from her, their faces twisted in horror. The third, the dead one, was pinned against the nearest wall, his chest pierced trough, by her left arm.

Naruto looked around herself, feeling dazed. It was as though her mind had somehow gone completely blank, and only a terrifying bloodlust had remained. And before she knew it, her arm had already acted on its own, not waiting for her permission for the kill. The man's blood was on her and under her and everywhere around her. And for some odd reason, she felt panicky. Never before had she killed like this—with her bare hands without a weapon. Never on mere instinct, not even _that_ night over six years ago. That time she had done it for self-defense and revenge maybe, but now… Mere impulse. Mere—instinct.

The inside of the man's chest was warm, but death would make it cold soon. Naruto started shaking. Her hand, her _hand_ was_ inside_ this man's body. She tried to draw it out, but for some reason she couldn't.

"Let me go, let me go, let me go…" she muttered repeatedly, and took a hold of the body with her right hand to get more strength behind her pull, and finally managed to get her hand out of the man's chest. It was bloody, the bandages had come partially undone, and the smell…

Naruto stared at her hand. What had come over her? Killing was a pleasure, yes, but killing like _this_… Without a reason, _out of control_… She had never felt her left arm and eye this unstable before. Sure, they were wicked by nature and always thirsting for blood, but she had _never _before lost control like this.

And it scared her.

The brown-haired girl was still on the ground, and now staring at her wide-eyed. Naruto couldn't quite distinguish all her thoughts from the look on her face, but she looked stunned. Was she afraid of her? Or angry at her? Why the hell would she be angry when she had just been saved? Naruto didn't know what to do. Time had seemed to come to a standstill. Naruto's earlier thoughts about her parents and about food were long gone and forgotten. Her mind was frozen. Even the birds in the area had seemed to fall silent in the face of the death of another living being. Out of respect, out of instinct, out of fear… Whatever the reason for it, it felt like the whole world had fallen silent around Naruto and the girl and the dead body. The two remaining men had fled long ago, but neither Naruto nor the brown-haired girl moved.

And then suddenly, breaking the spell on them, the unknown girl spoke.

"I…" she began timidly. "You… Uh… Don't cry…"

"Cry?" Naruto repeated dumbly, and her right hand slowly rose up to feel her face. And she felt it then, the few tears that flowed down her cheek from her right eye. But not from the left one. Her red, demonic eye wasn't crying. That one was still out for blood, but now at least under control. And only then did she realize that the brown-haired girl had seen her—_was seeing_ her—both eyes and hands.

But she wasn't running away or screaming or looking at her in horror. _Why_? How could she not?

"Is… is he dead?" the girl spoke again, this time a little louder.

"Mm…" Naruto replied, letting her mind mull over the fact that she had just put her _whole arm_ through a man's chest. The brown-haired girl's question was pretty stupid, really. "He's got a whole on his chest… Of course he's dead," Naruto remarked dryly, forcibly refraining from calling the girl a retard. It didn't do to anger the only witness she had to vouch for her.

"What should we do?"

Naruto shrugged. She honestly didn't know. Should they alert the authorities… or get rid of the body by themselves? Naruto was surprised the girl hadn't immediately blamed it all on her. She, after all, hadn't done anything wrong. Naruto, on the other hand, had rushed out of nowhere and _murdered_ a man. If they told people about this, Naruto was quite sure those who hated her with the most passion would not lose this opportunity to get her imprisoned or even executed. The brown-haired girl most likely wouldn't get into any trouble, though. She was just an innocent victim of attempted rape.

But Naruto's thoughts were abruptly interrupted, as her ears picked up the sound of people approaching. Damn it, someone nearby had probably felt her red chakra pulsing. For a moment she considered just taking off, but when she recognized the chakra signature of one of the people, she abandoned all thoughts of escaping. She knew _that_ ANBU. Not personally—of course—but she had been "supervised" by him a few times. And since there were ANBU coming, she had no chance of escape. They'd catch her and then she'd be considered even guiltier.

And then they were there, in front of her, looking at her warily. Naruto couldn't see their faces (of course), but she was sure that behind those masks their expressions were quite suspicious, even blaming.

Shit. She was caught _literally_ red-handed.

"Oi, _tori_!" Naruto spoke to the bird-masked man, who was leader of the squad. "Before you get any ideas, you should know that this man was trying to rape her." She pointed at the brown-haired girl.

"And I suppose it was necessary to brutally kill the man in the process of defending her?" another ANBU spoke with a taunting voice. "And since when have _you_ been kind enough to save someone else?"

"Is she telling the truth?" the bird-masked one asked as he turned to help the brown-haired girl stand.

"Yes," she replied, surprising Naruto with her honesty.

"Your name, miss?"

"—Ayame," she replied, her voice a bit shaky. A large bruise was starting to form on her cheek, and her eyes were red from crying. She slumped tiredly against the man supporting her, and then passed out. Luckily, the ANBU's strong arms caught her easily, and she was lifted up.

"Bring her," he merely said, referring to Naruto, before taking off to the roofs, carrying the girl called Ayame as gently as he could.

"Let's go then," a female ANBU from the side said and approached the blonde. Two of the remaining stayed back and she and another one came with Naruto.

"This is a real mess you've gotten yourself into this time, Uzumaki," the masked woman remarked, her voice lazy and indifferent. Naruto would have betted anything that she was enjoying this. The sadistic bitch. Not that Naruto was any different, though.

"You won't be wriggling yourself out of this mess easily."

The blonde frowned, swearing inside her head. Oh, she knew that. No need to tell her. Only a miracle could save her now.

---

But at that time, it seemed like her bad luck was about to change—for the time being at least. A miracle did happen. Maybe God hadn't abandoned her completely after all, or maybe someone else was watching over her up there (or down there), but whatever it was, Naruto wasn't going to question it. She accepted the miracle silently (or as silently as was possible for her), and thanked her stars.

For so it happened, that the investigation revealed something very nasty about the dead man (and his two companions who had been caught at the village gates), which proved favorable for Naruto. The three men, as was discovered, were wanted criminals from outside the Land of Fire, convicted of several rapes and assaults, and had been lately linked to a man called Gatou, who was considered a very dangerous and suspicious "businessman" operating in the Land of Waves.

And all this had been ridiculously easy to uncover. Were those men even _trying _to cover up their tracks? Konoha had apparently been just a quick stop on their trip (the information of where they were going was denied from Naruto), but due to alcohol (_just_ _how stupid could those idiots be_?) they had thrown away all their caution (ignoring the fact that they were inside the walls of a _ninja _village), and decided they wanted to get laid. And somehow they had even managed to be stupid enough to get caught before being able to flee the village. It was so pathetic that Naruto wanted to gag.

So, all the accusations of murder (or whatever they had been, Naruto hadn't paid much attention) had been dropped with slight _encouragement _from the Hokage (and Naruto _so_ did not feel like she owed the bastard), and Naruto had instead been given a small reward for catching—executing—a wanted criminal.

And all this had happened in the short time of only three days.

It was truly a miracle.

Later on the third day, after Naruto had been cleared of all charges, the girl she had—as unbelievable as it was—saved, came to her and confronted her. And Naruto didn't understand why. It wasn't as if Naruto had planned or intended to save her, or even wanted to. But the girl, completely ignoring Naruto's sharp glare, refused to back down from her and leave her alone.

"I—"

"What?" Naruto snapped, startling the girl a bit. Her tone of voice was so hostile that any sensible person would've surely given up at that point, but the brown-haired girl only faltered for a second before bracing herself.

"I wanted to thank you for—"

"I don't care. You can shove your thanks up your ass. What I did had nothing to do with you."

"But—"

"_What_?"

"You saved me anyway, even if you didn't mean to."

Naruto was a bit baffled now. Was that really reason enough to thank someone like _her_? Who was this girl? Didn't she know who Naruto was? Didn't she know she was talking to the dangerous, bitterly hated demon of the village? The outcast who no one, absolutely _no one_, dared to associate with, as was the unwritten rule of Konoha.

"My name is Ayame. My father and I have only recently moved here, and—"

Oh, so that was the reason.

"—I was a bit lost that night, after going to the store, and then those—those men saw me and…"

"Why are you telling _me_ this?" Naruto asked blatantly, somewhat surprising the girl with her rudeness. Ayame had to look away for a moment, before she could continue.

"What you did, was… well, it frightened me a lot. Your arm and eye… they're not exactly normal, are they?"

"What do you think, retard?" The girl swallowed nervously as Naruto frowned, annoyance evident on the blonde's face.

"You are Uzumaki Naruto, right? Could I ask you… what is it about you that all these people are so wary of?

"No, you fucking can't, and I'm not going to waste anymore of my time on this. I'm going."

She was about to turn around and walk away, but before she could, Ayame, somehow ignoring all the warning bells ringing in her head, caught her by the hand and stopped her. The tense silence that followed seemed to eat away at the stubborn girl's resolve, and Naruto's furious glare didn't offer any help. The blonde was outright shocked by the girl's daringness. Nobody—and that was really _nobody_—dared to touch her. It was the unspoken law, the unwritten rule of the village, readily obeyed by both Naruto as well the other party. And this girl had dared to break it.

Naruto furiously wrenched away from her hold.

"Never. Ever. Touch. Me. Again," she uttered from behind her gritted teeth, with her demonic left eye open now. The brown-haired girl had already seen it, so what did it matter at this point?

Ayame was now truly scared. There was not a single person in the world that had ever frightened her more, those horrible three men who had almost raped her included. Everything about the blonde girl's body language was saying that she was just an inch away from physically attacking her, and after seeing what she was capable of and how ruthless she could be, Ayame did not want to risk it with this Uzumaki Naruto person. But she had to get her point across, somehow.

"I… I just…" she stammered.

"What?" the blonde hissed at her threateningly.

"I'm… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to intrude your personal space. I just wanted to…" she fell silent under the younger girl's heated glare.

"Well, spit it out already! I have things to do!" Naruto exclaimed, and Ayame instinctively flinched. But she was a very determined person when she set out to do something, and wasn't about to run away crying now. So, she gathered her courage and briskly met the glare directed at her unblinkingly. How she managed to do this, was beyond even her.

"Uzumaki-san, I wanted to show you my gratitude by offering you free meals at my father's ramen stand."

Naruto watched her for a moment in silent surprise, but then scoffed. "That's not very smart, you know."

"Why?" Ayame asked, not understanding. She was just trying to be kind, after all.

"Because you'd be out of business before you could say 'Sandaime Hokage', if people saw me eating continuously at your place."

"Oh… It's very kind of you to think about our welfare, but you really don't have to worry about that," Ayame replied with a hint of a smile in her eyes. Naruto flushed slightly, a very unusual reaction for her, and scowled in irritation. _Seriously_, what was this girl thinking?

"I wasn't worried about anything, least of all _you_! I don't care about what happens to you. I was just stating the facts."

"And I told you, it's not a problem. If people shun you, then you can just eat in the backroom."

"No."

"Why?"

Naruto was utterly confused by this girl's behavior. Nobody had ever been this… open and friendly towards her (except for Sarutobi, but he didn't count), and it was making her very uncomfortable. Why was this Ayame so fixed on getting her to eat at her ramen restaurant? Was she trying to poison her or something? What else could the reason be? Naruto had just a moment ago told her that she hadn't saved her on purpose. Naruto had a minute ago even nearly attacked her. Why couldn't the girl just let things be? Why didn't she understand that Naruto wasn't interested in her charity?

"I don't want your ramen," she stated harshly, feeling oddly hostile. This feeling was different from what she was used to.

And in fact, she _herself_ was making this a bigger deal than it really was. But she just couldn't help herself. It was too confusing, too… _painful_. Naruto had spent her whole life alone, suffering in her darkness, rejected and shunned, and now all of a sudden, there was someone reaching out a helpful, kind hand for her. Trying to offer her hope that Naruto knew would be crushed the second her secret was found out. Naruto was a _jinchuuriki_. She was alone, and always would be. She wasn't allowed a normal life, a normal world and normal relationships. The kindness in the brown-haired girl's voice was like a ray of light, but Naruto knew better than to reach out for it. She had already been bitterly disappointed, and the process had no need to be repeated. That ray of light would just slip through her fingers, like always.

This was the very reason why she avoided human contact as much as possible, the very core of her hatred and bitterness. The seed had already sprouted inside of her, and it now spread rapidly in the darkness of her heart. Naruto needed _no one_. She was alone, and she could get by that way very well. She wasn't weak anymore. She wasn't Sarutobi's pitiful little "Naruto-chan" anymore. She was fine by herself and didn't want this girl's pity or charity, or even her gratefulness. She wanted nothing from her.

But no matter how resolute she was about her decision, Ayame's next question blew her off.

"You're an orphan, right?"

Naruto stared at the girl, too distracted by her words to focus on keeping her glare on. "How do you know that?"

An expression of sadness briefly crossed Ayame's face, before the kind smile returned. She spoke very softly, but not pityingly.

"I think… I think you have very lonely eyes. You look like you've been kicked around quite a bit before you learned to stand up for yourself."

And by all sense, Naruto should have felt offended that a complete stranger was shamelessly analyzing her life for her (and correctly, at that), but she was too stunned to say much anything. This Ayame person was a very, very bizarre one to so boldly confront her and even throw her opinions and assumptions this carelessly at her. No one had ever before dared to do that.

"What…" It was Naruto's turn to search for the right words now. "What are you getting at?"

"Well, I was just thinking that since you're an orphan and live in an orphanage—"

"I live alone."

"…Oh. Well, anyway, since you're an orphan and live alone, you probably don't have much money to spare. If you accept my offer, it'll save you some. It's the smart thing to do, Uzumaki-san, as you probably very well understand."

Ayame's brown eyes were warm and easy to get lost in, and how she managed to hold the blonde's mismatched gaze was a wonder. Not many people did. Something about this girl just drew Naruto. It was something about her straightforward attitude and her sensitiveness to Naruto's feelings. She seemed so… unreal, from where Naruto stood. She was the only person ever to have offered such kindness to her, thoughtfulness in its simplest but most appreciated form, and the fact that she was just a few years older that herself made it even more unbelievable. Naruto hadn't had nearly any contact with people of her own age group in years, and now all of a sudden, this girl… It was… _amazing_. It felt amazing.

Naruto immediately felt attracted to this Ayame girl's sweet character. Not romantically, as far as she understood, but simply… in a familial way, maybe. Naruto had never had a family, and was quite sure she never would, but it didn't stop the waves of warmth from spreading inside her unwilling heart.

But she didn't want to be disappointed again. She would not be weak again. She had to concentrate on her anger, on her revenge, and stop fantasizing about impossible things.

But this Ayame had never done anything to her. She hadn't even been frightened away by Naruto's demonic eye and arm. Maybe she was different from the others.

But no. Naruto's thoughts were straying now. She did not _need_ a friend. Even if Ayame was willing to become one (and she would surely abandon her the moment someone revealed her dark secret to the girl), Naruto did not need one. She was perfectly capable of being alone. Taking the chance was not worth the risk. She couldn't let trivial matters like friendship or compassion sway her determination, her revenge. She couldn't let anything get in her way. It was better, it was so much _easier_, to just be alone. Naruto's defense was her offence, and if it was crumbled, then she was bare. And she couldn't take that. Another blow under her cover would be the final nail to her already half-built coffin. Besides, all of this could just be a plot to have her lower her guard so that the people who wanted to hurt her could strike. And Naruto had sworn that would never happen again.

No, it was better to just concentrate on her training and become invincible as quickly as possible and get her final goals cleared.

"Uzumaki-san?" Ayame's kind voice broke her from her thoughts.

"Hn?"

"I have to go now, but I wrote down the address for you," Ayame handed her a piece of paper, which Naruto silently accepted. "_Ja_… I'll see you later, I hope."

And there was one last smile, one last lingering gaze from those warm, brown eyes, and she turned her back to Naruto and walked away. Naruto watched her for a while, before hurriedly looking away. Why was she staring at the girl when she had already left? This was all so out of character for her. And at what point had it changed to this Ayame girl having to leave, instead of Naruto? No one had ever left _her _behind before. This Ayame had completely turned her world around in a matter of minutes. It was confusing, and for the first time in years, Naruto felt… vulnerable. Insecure. _Weak_.

_Fuck_, what the hell was _up_ with her? Was she really this pathetic? The moment someone offers her a little tiny bit of kindness, it already becomes a test for her resolve. No, Naruto couldn't allow herself to be tricked. She couldn't allow herself such a weakness.

And why was she even thinking about it so much? It was _not_ a big deal. It was just an invitation for ramen. Free meals weren't something she got every day, so why not just accept it? Like this Ayame had said, it was the smart thing to do, considering Naruto's financial situation. She could just as well save some money by going for a free meal to the girl's ramen bar every now and then. Nothing bad about that… right?

Naruto's concentration was _so _not swaying.

She sneered at herself, and then—_finally_—took her leave and made her way home. Upon arriving at her apartment, she was greeted with the annoying files about her parents that were still spread on her futon, and a depressingly empty refrigerator. But fortunately, Naruto wasn't hungry at the moment, just tired. And so, she decided to catch up on some sleep and worry about other things later. And that was exactly what she did. And when she woke up, she made her way to Ayame's ramen bar, which Naruto found out was called Ichiraku Ramen, and ate several bowls of the most delicious food she had ever tasted, in the backroom of the place. And after that, she became a regular, visiting the restaurant almost every second day, sometimes paying, sometimes not.

And this was how Naruto discovered her passion for noodles.


	4. Chapter 4

Well, it's been a long time. I am so so so so so sorry for not updating any sooner!!!!! I've had all sorts of distractions, but I'm not going to start listing them here now. The important thing is that I'm updating, right? I decided that I really need to get this done, since I've had it half ready for about a month. There may be some errors there, but whatever. And for your information, I'm not too fond of this chap. Also, I was reading the previous chapters a while ago, and whoa, they really suck. I'm not happy with them at all. I might do some editing, if I can find the time.

Okay, I'm gonna cut the crap short. Please review, all ya readers. Reviews are half of the story's life (the other half being the imagination and enthusiasm of the author). Positive, negative, long or short, anything is good as long as you make some sense. So please.

Naruto is very melodramatic (it's funny, actually). Sasuke is quite OOC, and so are the rest of them, but you people shouldn't expect anything better from me. I'm not that good. I just hope my English is passable.

There were tons of other things I wanted to say, but I forgot about them, as I usually do. Oh well.

(NOTE: This has been edited.)

I don't own Naruto.

For a Reason to Exist

Chapter Four — Of Reputations, Standpoints and Reasons

"What?!"

"Naruto—"

"Don't fucking 'Naruto' me! I refuse! I absolutely refuse!"

Sarutobi sighed and scratched his nose. Did the girl really have to be so loud? "You can't refuse this, Naruto. It's not your decision to make."

The blonde scowled. "You can't fucking force me."

"I can, and I am forcing you."

About fifteen minutes later, Naruto emerged from the Hokage's office, defeated and on a bad mood. How dare he put her in such an uncomfortable position?

She had wanted to go home and sleep away her irritation, but unfortunately, the world disagreed with her. Or, to be more specific, the little spoiled grandson of Sarutobi's disagreed with her.

"Oi, oneesan!" Naruto cringed unconsciously. _Oneesan_…? She turned around slowly.

"Never call me that again, if your life is precious to you," she hissed trough her teeth, dead serious about every word—so what if she was a bit theatrical. The boy gulped and took a step back.

"Uh… I don't know your name—"

"And you don't need to, either. What do you want, brat?" The boy whimpered under the blonde girl's intense glare, and tried to avoid eye contact.

"I just…"

"You just?"

"I…"

"Well?"

The boy took a deep breath. "My name is Konohamaru and I want you to help me defeat jiichan."

"Konohamaru? Jiichan? You mean the old idiot Sarutobi? You're that goat's grandson?" Naruto questioned on a completely bored tone of voice, annoyed to the core. And suddenly, for some peculiar reason, the boy seemed to get more fire under his belt, and begun nodding vigorously.

"_That's_ exactly why I want your help! Only you have the guts to disrespect him and go against what he says!"

Naruto scoffed, and looked at the boy disgustedly. "Whatever. That's because everyone else are such pussies. Now, get out of my way, I don't have time for this."

"But—"

"Is there something wrong with your hearing, idiot? I _said_ I don't have the time."

"But—"

"Or the interest. Why would I care about some stupid, spoiled little brat's problems? Goodbye."

Naruto left Konohamaru in her dust, not even caring to spare a glance at the boy, and thus missing his rapidly tearing eyes. Not that she would have cared anyway. She had her own fresh problems now. That stupid Hokage had once again pulled the carpet from under her feet, effectively tackling her to the ground. And Naruto was so mad. She was seething with anger, praying for something to come and distract her before she exploded. And she really had no need to get into trouble so soon after the latest incident.

But she was so frustrated! Naruto smacked her hand into a wall, creating a deep dent, and ignored the taunting little voice in her head that told her she was always frustrated—it sounded too much like the Kyuubi's. One day, Naruto swore, one day there would be nobody left with the power to order her around. But for now she had to bend to her superior's will. She had to follow that asshole Sarutobi's orders, even if they took her to one of her most avoided places in the whole world—namely, the ninja academy of Konoha. That wretched place! Naruto had no desire to linger in the presence of those weak little babies for any longer than was necessary, and she being sent to the academy for the graduating class's last week was highly uncalled for.

Why? Why? Why? She would fucking murder that Sarutobi in his sleep one of these days. He had no right, no reason whatsoever, to do this to her.

Naruto reached her apartment in record time and hurried to find her backpack, and then took off to one of the furthest training grounds in the village. She desperately needed to work out some steam. Just sleeping it away would not be enough this time, she decided.

Immediately after arriving at her destination and checking there was no one nearby, she proceeded to set her usual traps around the training area to alert her if anyone approached. One might question why she was being so secretive about her training, but Naruto had a few very good reasons. After all, she did not want to give away any of her secrets. It wouldn't do to let the village know just what kind of techniques she could use—or rather, what kind of abilities her demonic body parts granted her—even if she was supposedly training to become the village's weapon. For now, she felt the need to ensure her privacy, and to such a degree that some people might call her paranoid. She wasn't, though, she was only realistic.

...Alright, maybe just a little bit paranoid as well.

Naruto had unwrapped the bandages covering her left arm and was now stretching her fingers, eyeing the dangerous-looking claws on their tips. She could feel the chakra under the red skin beginning to pulsate and she could almost hear it screaming for blood. Unfortunately, today her arm wasn't going to get any, and Naruto felt cross because of this. But there was nothing she could do about it, and so she would not waste her time brooding about it, too.

Naruto closed her eyes and focused. No matter how much training, the power of the fox was, and always would be, difficult to control. She had to concentrate deeply to use it, but she was accustomed to this and so there was no problem there. She commanded the limb and the red chakra surfaced quickly and obediently from underneath her skin, very much visible and very much vicious. Naruto smirked ferociously. If only she had a sparring partner… Slicing trees was starting to get old.

Well. Nothing she could do about that now. Time to get to work.

---

The miserable day greeted Naruto as miserably as she had expected it to, if not more so. The sky was cloudy and grey and the day seemed as dull as her mood.

In another part of Konoha though, a young man called Umino Iruka was waking up in a completely different kind of atmosphere. Instead of being annoyed or cynical, like any teacher-to-be of Naruto's would most likely be, he felt jumpy and intimidated. The things he had heard about that girl… Iruka shivered unintentionally. He wasn't one to believe just any rumors, but he didn't know what he could expect from the jinchuuriki girl. Was she really the monster people in their descriptions painted her to be? Or was there more to the girl?

Fellow teachers had often told Iruka that he was too soft, too gullible, but he had never really agreed to this. He wasn't naïve, he just… wanted to believe the best of people. And now, Iruka didn't know how he should feel about this Uzumaki Naruto person. His own parents had died in the hands (or paws rather) of the thing inside of her. Should he hate her or feel grateful to her for holding the Kyuubi back? If only he knew how the girl herself felt about everything. Iruka was aware, the whole adult population of the village was aware, that she had been attacked that one night on October tenth, six years ago, but no one really knew what had occurred and what had become of her after that. They knew she was very much alive and sadistic by nature, but what she did everyday was unknown. People occasionally caught glimpses of her in the streets of Konoha and stomping in and out the Hokage's office, but that was about it. But unlike the vast majority of the villagers, Iruka felt sympathy for the girl. Even if she hated Konoha, she had so many strong reasons to feel that way. Iruka wasn't going to deny that.

But the actual explanation for why Iruka felt intimidated by her presence in his class was because he couldn't predict what she might do to the other students if they somehow irritated her. Even Iruka couldn't disagree with the fact that Uzumaki Naruto had some dangerous violent tendencies. Hell, for the past couple of weeks there had been a rumor going on about how she had brutally murdered someone. That, of course, made no sense at all, since if it was true, she would've been executed right away, and nothing, not even her young age, could've stopped that, Iruka knew. That girl had never been treated like a child, which was quite unbelievable in Iruka's opinion, but even in the best of villages there had to be sacrifices made. And while that sounded very cruel, well so did sacrificing the peace of mind of so very many good people who just didn't know any better than to hate the girl.

Everything was so very complicated and too few people actually took the time of the day to figure things out, so that they really made sense. But ever since receiving the word from the Hokage, that the Uzumaki girl was going to be graduating along with his class, Iruka had done some serious thinking. He had asked himself if he actually blamed Uzumaki Naruto for the death of his parents and the devastation that had ensued the demon fox's attack, or if he had only been following the lead of others. So far, Iruka hadn't fully made up his mind, but today he would more or less make his final decision. It all depended on how the girl acted and was. If she was vicious, then yes, Iruka would most likely at least strongly dislike her—but he would always remember that the reason for that kind of behavior might be completely Konoha's own fault. Then on the other hand, if she was (against all odds) likable, then he might even forget about her being a jinchuuriki and fully focus on treating her just like any other student of his. Well, either way, today he would get his answer.

Iruka arrived at the academy early, as usual. He was greeted by many other teachers as he passed them (he was quite a popular guy among chuunins), and some gave him sympathetic looks, knowing who he was going to have to put up with for the whole week. Mizuki-sensei had even been kind enough to suggest he could sub for him a few classes if he had a hard time standing the girl. Iruka had of course, dutiful as his nature was, politely turned him down, and for one fleeting second, for some peculiar reason, he had imagined seeing disappointment in the other man's eyes. Well, certainly that couldn't have been the case, since Mizuki-sensei had always quite frankly disliked the girl and seemed to intake her reputation as it was without questioning it at all. Which was (if Iruka was completely honest) either a very stupid or/and just an incredibly stubborn standpoint of the reality; the truth that most people at least recognized was hidden from the masses. Anyhow, Iruka wasn't going to judge Mizuki-sensei because of it. Everyone was entitled to their own opinion, even if it was a very black and white one. He just somewhat pitied the girl who was subjected to all that talk and gossip.

Uzumaki Naruto was an orphan, and Iruka knew from experience that a life like that was very hard for a child. Then, with all the hatred and bitterness and un-acknowledgement added, the girl's psyche might have come to be very twisted over the years. People reacted differently to things, but not so very differently that there was no way to predict how a person turned out in a certain kind of environment. Obviously, one's own character was very crucial to how a person took things and how their mind worked, but not even a jinchuuriki's personality was impossible to read. Iruka knew all his students well and was proud of it. Even the quiet ones could not escape his censors. He wished to know Uzumaki Naruto too.

---

Uchiha Sasuke glared at the fan girls swarming all around him, and cursed under his breath.

"Sasuke-kun is mine, Ino-pig!"

"Shut up, giant forehead! He's mine!"

Meet Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, the loudest of them all. Sasuke could not understand how those girls could be so ditsy. As if their love life was all that mattered. Couldn't they see he wasn't interested? He had no time to play around with such annoying idiots. He had goals in his life, and they were notably higher than those of his fan girls' (those being: dating Uchiha Sasuke, kissing Uchiha Sasuke, becoming Uchiha Sasuke's wife, etc.). Sasuke was the last Uchiha, and thus, he had responsibilities. To name one, he had to perform to everyone's expectations and prove he truly was a genius. Another thing was restoring the Uchiha-clan. And then, there was also his own private ambition, to him the most important of all his goals. And that was, killing the one who had murdered everyone he loved and left him alone, putting him in this horrible position. He would kill his elder brother, Uchiha Itachi.

But before that, he had to deal with all this crap and the annoying fan girls and get out of the academy alive (suicide had begun to feel like an appealing alternative to the daily attacks of the Uchiha Sasuke fan club). Thank heavens there was only a week left. He wished dearly that he would not be placed in the same team with any of his fan girls. But what were the chances, when there was only one girl in their class who did not have a crush on him? Sasuke groaned. It would be unlikely that he would get Hyuuga Hinata in his team.

"Back off! I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!"

"In your dreams, forehead girl! That seat is mine!"

This same fight repeated itself nearly every day, and Sasuke was getting sick of it. He got up rigidly, startling the arguing girls, and stomped away with a scowl of displeasure on his face. He let his gaze glide over the room, looking for someone to sit next to (so the fan girls couldn't fight over the free seat next to him), but unfortunately not many people had arrived yet (and sitting next to one of the other fan girls was not an option).

Just then, a blond girl he had never seen before caught his eye, and Sasuke halted. He wondered how he hadn't noticed her any earlier. By all sense, he should have, for the girl was clearly anything but ordinary. She sat at the back of the room, seemingly ignoring everyone and everything happening around her, and glared into space. Her appearance was… well, to say the least, surprising. She had a lithe build and she was considerably short, but there was nothing about her that indicated any kind of weakness. She looked aware, even as she was spacing out. Her blond hair was short like a boy's and there was nothing girly about the way she appeared to carry herself. If anything, her motions seemed so masculine that one could have mistaken her for a very feminine boy, had it not been for the slight bulge on her chest. She had three strange, fox-like whisker marks on both of her cheeks, and her left eye was covered by a layer of bandages, as was her left arm.

But what was oddest, was the ominous feeling Sasuke got when he looked at her. It was as if… some primitive instinct from deep within him was telling him to run. He did the opposite, and took a few steps towards her.

Suddenly, the girl turned to his direction and her blue eye caught him in a stare. Sasuke froze. For a split second, he thought he couldn't breathe, and stopped on his tracks like a deer caught in headlights (A/N: not that there are any cars in Naruto's world). His vision became unfocused and he could feel himself sweating nervously. But the feeling only lasted a moment, and then the girl turned away again, once more ignoring her surroundings. Sasuke stared at her, frowning, and wiped his clammy hands on his shorts. What was that sensation?

Against his better judgment, Sasuke braced himself and stubbornly made his way towards the girl, wary of her and their surroundings. He wouldn't back down from her after what had just happened. If it was a challenge, then he accepted it. He was the number one rookie of his class after all, and he would never admit defeat without a fight (and even then the chances were close to nil).

_If I can't do even this, then I'm useless_. It was his motto, and it was also the mantra he kept repeating to himself in his head right now. Well, it was true, wasn't it? If he couldn't do this, then what chances would he ever have against Itachi? This thought always gave him willpower, and this time was no exception.

He cleared his throat.

"Mind if I sit here?" Sasuke's voice was steadily nonchalant, although on the inside he was feeling a bit shaky. He was not afraid, just tense.

"I do."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, a little surprised by the crude answer. No need for good manners then, it seemed. "Too bad, then. I'm going to sit here anyway."

Complete silence followed his statement. The girl didn't object any further or show any signs of acknowledging his presence, but still, Sasuke didn't feel like she had yet been defeated. She was just ignoring him. And he found this very annoying. No one ignored him. He was the last Uchiha; it didn't matter where he went or what he did, he was never ignored. People always paid attention to him, even when he didn't want them to. And thus, this insolent girl's behavior both unnerved as well as irritated him. On top of that, there was something about her covered left eye and arm that gave him the creeps.

The longer he sat next to her in the tense silence, the more he felt like it was suffocating him. Even the loud voices of his fan girls arguing on the other side of the classroom didn't seem to reach their spot. For a while, he felt unable to do anything but just sit there, thinking.

And suddenly he understood. It was so simple he could've laughed (but Uchiha Sasuke does not laugh, so he didn't).

Genjutsu. It had to be genjutsu. There was no other sensible reason for why a little girl like her could have such an effect on him. He was the number one rookie of the year, there was no way there was anyone his age or younger in Konoha who could have such an effect on him. Knowing this, he relaxed visibly, and decided to get rid of the frustrating silence.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. Yours?"

"None of your business."

Sasuke smirked. "An odd name."

Naruto narrowed her eye and her fingers spasmed irritably, as if longing for something solid to smother. She looked out of the window for a moment, collecting every bit of self-control she possessed, and then glanced at the black-haired boy from the corner of her eye.

"Uchiha, was it?"

"Yes," Sasuke replied, pleased to have lured her into a conversation. After a second of silence, the girl turned to face him, looking half annoyed and half disgusted. The look stirred anger inside the boy. What right had this girl to look at him so—so superiorly?

"Well, Uchiha, you'd do good to remember this," she begun, her voice surprisingly low for a child, and a girl especially. "You have good instincts and I recall they say you're the best of your class. But make no mistake—against me you're as good as dead. So take my advice; get up, fuck off, and take your smartass remarks with you. I don't have the patience to deal with arrogant pricks like you today."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes heatedly. He was not weak. Didn't she know of the reputation of the Uchiha-clan? She was the arrogant one here. Who the hell was she even? And whatever reason was she here for, anyway?

"Who's arrogant? You just appear here out of nowhere and don't bother to even tell me your name. You're rude, you threaten me, and then you have the guts to call me arrogant. I'd say you're the arrogant one here."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, unexpectedly somewhat amused by the boy's stubborn pride, and lazily leaned back in her chair. Maybe she could poke some fun at him, just for her own private entertainment. Seeing as she was stuck in this place against her will for a week, she needed something to keep her amused, so why not this boy? He had the oh-so-perfect nature.

"You sure talk big, _boy_."

"And you sure talk big, for talking to someone who is bigger than you."

Naruto smirked mentally. "Fine, whatever, have it your way. You've deemed I'm arrogant. Now go away. You stink. I don't feel like smelling your sweat for the rest of the day."

Sasuke stared at her, a small blush spreading on his face. He stank? He wasn't really even sweaty! What was with that attitude? What the hell was this girl's problem?

"Well, get used to it," he snapped, just barely suppressing an angry growl. All the while completely missing the glint of amusement and mock in the girl's blue eye.

"Really now?"

"Really. I've no intention of moving away from the shelter of your genjutsu. It's quite convenient for me."

"_Hee_? So you realized?" Naruto was now curious enough to almost overcome the mental nausea that such a close distance with a male caused her.

"A while ago actually. It wasn't all that well hidden."

The girl scoffed mockingly at the boy's cocky choice of words and rolled her eye. "I didn't think I'd need to really concentrate to keep away a few flies like you."

She paused to think for a second, and then a calculating look appeared on her face. "Are you a genjutsu user, then?"

"No. Are you?" Sasuke replied, and the girl looked at him like he was retarded.

"You think I'd tell you? I don't go around giving people information they could someday use against me. Unlike you, apparently."

Sasuke was about to give an angry retort, but the girl continued abruptly. "And again, make no mistake—if the need ever arises, I _will_ use it against you. And without a doubt—since you're so annoying—if the opportunity ever arises, I _will_ kill you."

"You say it's foolish of me to give other people information about myself, but isn't it equally foolish to make enemies so casually of everyone around you?" Sasuke replied, scowling. He _really _didn't like this girl, but there was something fascinating about her essence. Not necessarily anything good, though. Somehow, it seemed as if there was something inside her that she kept carefully hidden from view and locked away, something animalistic and chaotically wrathful, hardly controllable.

Naruto's gaze was unreadable, as she stared at him. "Making enemies is like breathing to me. I don't care. And besides, an enemy like you is nothing to worry about. You suck."

Sasuke had to hold back a snarl of anger at this statement. No, no, no… He would not lose his cool over whatever shit this girl spouted at him. He was better than that. But damn she had some nerve! Nevertheless, Sasuke wasn't so stupid as to just overlook her claims, pompous as they were. She might've been ridiculously arrogant and self-assured, but there was something in her that demanded respect. She wasn't a complete waste of time and space like the rest of the girls here, Sasuke could see. But how far her skill actually stretched was another thing completely. Sasuke didn't think she could really beat him.

"You think you're better than me, don't you? Just because you're rich, popular and good-looking (A/N: yes, Naruto admits he's good-looking.)… Just because you're the fucking last Uchiha, the _'hope and future of our fine village'_, as I hear them say in the streets." The girl's voice had suddenly, for some reason, turned surprisingly hostile. "This might be the first time I've met you, but I can already tell what kind of a person you are. You're just like the rest of them. You disgust me."

Sasuke glared at her, feeling oddly threatened, and was about to respond, but he was abruptly distracted. For at that moment, their sensei Umino Iruka, entered the classroom, and behind him came the rest of the students. Sasuke, deciding to ignore the girl beside him for now, turned to sit in the right direction and gave his attention to the chuunin at the front of the room. The students took their seats and gradually quieted down as their sensei waited patiently. Sasuke felt the girl beside him drop her genjutsu, and it didn't take long for the whispering to start, as the others finally noted her presence (and the fact that she was seated next to Uchiha Sasuke).

Iruka gave a concerned glance at the Uchiha boy's direction, silently praying that everything would go well today. He then coughed meaningfully to get his students' attention.

"Good morning, everyone," he started in his usual way. "I take it no one's absent today? I—"

"Sensei, who's that? What's she doing here?" one Inuzuka Kiba from the back of the room interrupted him quite loudly, pointing his finger at the blond girl.

Iruka sighed soundlessly and shook his head at the boy's shamelessness. Well, right now was as good time as any, right? "As you can all see, we have a new student. Would you mind introducing yourself to the class?"

"I would," came the clearly irritated reply, surprising Iruka. The students started whispering to each other, stealing occasional glances at the blond girl.

Iruka cleared his throat. "I see… You don't mind if I do it for you then? Good." He didn't wait for an answer, and paid no attention to the angry scowl that appeared on the girl's face. "Her name is Uzumaki Naruto and she will be graduating along with you."

"Graduating with us?" The voice belonged to Haruno Sakura this time. "But sensei, is that really possible? I mean, if this is her first day at the academy, then there's no way she can catch up to us in one week."

"That won't be a problem. She has previously been trained privately. But that's enough about this topic." There was a loud uproar of complaints, but Iruka swiftly shut them up with a glare. "Now, I know you're all exited that your graduation day is getting closer, but there are still a few things we have to cover before that. Today, we'll be going over some details of the…"

Naruto stopped listening at that point and decided to once more continue ignoring her surroundings. For a moment, she considered visiting the Kyuubi to spend her time, but then abandoned the idea for quite obvious reasons. As horrible as it was, she realized she would just have to endure the boredom. Thoughts wondering, she yielded to her fate—for the time being, at least—and settled to staring out of the window, occasionally sneaking glances at the other students and the pompous boy sitting next to her.

It seemed to take forever before the teacher announced it was time for a little break, and Naruto was the first one to get out (she used the window). Making sure she hadn't been followed, she quickly ran up a tree and sat herself on a high branch. Then, she placed the same genjutsu she had been using earlier around herself again, only this time she concentrated a bit more. She didn't want that arrogant Uchiha or anyone else finding her. It was already taking all her energy to keep herself from skinning that annoying, snobbish asshole. And to think that she had been amused by him at first.

A week! She would have to spend a week in this place! How would she ever survive without killing at least one of those irksome idiots playing ninja?

Suddenly a thought hit Naruto. This… maybe this was a payment…? This had to be the prize of that miracle from a few weeks ago, right? Kami-sama was punishing her for the "execution" (translation: murder) she had committed. Or maybe it was Sarutobi who was punishing her…? Maybe this was a punishment for killing inside the village? Damn that old bastard…

In truth though, the reason why Naruto had been sent to the academy for this last week had nothing to do with the incident from couple of weeks ago and what she had done that time. Unknown to her, the explanation for the Hokage's decision was very simple; he just wanted Umino Iruka to observe her behavior around kids her own age and see who she worked best with. And at the moment—quite unfortunately for Naruto—the only person Iruka had seen her interacting with was Uchiha Sasuke, meaning he was the first candidate for becoming a future team mate of the girl's.

But Naruto didn't know that, and so couldn't worry about it quite yet. Not that she needed anymore issues to worry about.

And suddenly the girl felt very gloomy and miserable. How come the mere simplicity of the sounds and scents and sights of happiness and innocent notions for a life that'll never be, could make her feel so… aloof… empty? So very tired, like the only thing in the world she wanted to do at the moment was to crawl in a bed, and cover herself, hide from the world and the reality, and forget… Forget everything and anything, cease to know and comprehend what she was doing and what the world around her did. She felt so separate from everything. She didn't belong here, she was too different. Her life and her experiences had been too different, her body and mind were already too violated, and her soul along with her intentions was now too ugly.

But even then, Naruto couldn't tear her gaze away from that horrible, nauseating sight. Those stupid, naïve little babies, with such high, false expectations for life. She wanted to scream at them, break them, pummel them to the ground, and then laugh, laugh at them as they finally realized their own foolishness. Life was a nightmare. Life was so bad, that sometimes she felt it wasn't really even worth living. There was no reason to exist, really, they were all just walking lumps of meat, moved by their basic instincts, and—pushed into their minds by the evolved intelligence—the desire to find their own raison d'être. Pitiful, pathetic, frail little existences without any real meaning, any real need to be alive.

So utterly ironic, how at this point they all thought so much more of themselves. But that was one of their biggest and most obvious weaknesses. To Naruto, it was as clear as the day. They were still so naïve, they had no idea, no clue… Fuck, at this point most of them probably didn't even think that they indeed _would_ someday die, and that their lives _could_ go horribly wrong. They thought it was all just some great adventure, a frightening but safe rollercoaster that flipped them upside down a bit but the seatbelts never let them fall (A/N: not that there are any of those in Naruto's world).

Well, Naruto knew better than that. She would've probably felt pity for those unsuspecting babies, had her thoughts not been completely occupied by explicit disgust. And… dare she even think it… envy…?

She had never had that innocence. The joy of being alive and loving it. It probably felt so good… It had to be wonderful, living and actually feeling it, experiencing happiness.

But no—she was better off without it. Such a major weakness, and for someone like her, it equaled death. And besides, Naruto wasn't sure a character like her even had the ability to feel something so positive. And even if she was capable of that kind of feelings, it wasn't something she could allow for herself. She had to stay concentrated and pursue her goals without the slightest of doubt or compassion.

Naruto sighed. Keeping to herself for a week in this place would surely be a bigger challenge than she had anticipated. But she was determined to make it through without stirring up the crowds too much. She just had to keep her distance, somehow. No matter what it took, her determination and concentration would not, _could_ not sway.

When the break was over, Naruto headed back to class as discreetly as possible, trying to avoid everybody to her best ability. But, to her great annoyance, the Uchiha brat had apparently decided not to follow the advice she had given him earlier, for as soon as she had taken her seat, he approached her, wearing a look of cold interest on his face. Many of the students turned to watch where he was going, as he passed them on his way to the back of the class. A few of them even looked like they considered following him. Naruto's eye twitched. What did the fucker want now?

Uchiha Sasuke was feeling much more relaxed now that he had figured out how the strange and aggravating blond girl had been able intimidate him in the first place, but nonetheless, he refused to be as cocky as to let his guard down while around the girl. He could still sense danger from her.

She was such an enigma, he had no idea what to expect from her. The minute he had first seen the girl he had known there was something wrong with her, that she was somehow different… that she was someone worth his time and patience. He wanted to crack her shell and see what was inside, to find out what was so special about her that even their chuunin sensei seemed to treat her differently. He wanted to expose whatever the girl was hiding. He knew there was something wrong about her, something that made everyone (himself included) instinctively shun her. There was no way he was going to let it be, now that he had set his eyes on the girl's mystery.

And he just couldn't understand it, because had never before really taken interest in anyone. There just seemed to be something about this girl, something that drew him just as much as it disgusted him.

And what was with that grimace she was directing at him right now? Like there was something impossibly disgusting, like a decaying body or something, right under her nose. She was glaring at him like he was the devil himself.

Sasuke frowned. "What? Is there something on my face?"

The girl's eye narrowed and she turned to look out through the window. "Don't even think about sniffing around my business. I'll kill you."

"Kill me? Well, you could try. And what do you mean, sniff around your business?"

"You've got a thing or two to learn about being discreet. With an attitude like that, you'll get yourself killed sooner than you think—and hopefully, I'll be the one to do the honors."

Sasuke sat down next to the girl and directed his gaze to the window as well. "There's nothing wrong with my attitude. You on the other hand…"

Silence ensued, and it confused Sasuke, because this time it didn't feel threatening at all, but depressing instead. It was uncomfortable. He didn't like the thought that there was actually someone who could understand depression like he did.

But the silence was broken once again as Iruka entered the classroom and carried on with the lesson.

Naruto wasn't sure where she had found the strength to pull through the day, but somehow she had managed it. Lunch had been especially difficult for her, as she had no desire for any company, but the other students seemed to be very much interested in her. Truth be told, she couldn't really say she blamed them. Even if they didn't, Naruto could remember some of those faces from the "playground", from over six years ago. She could even recognize a few of her biggest bullies from that time. Seeing as she had no chances of being left alone, she had once more escaped through the window, completely disregarding the chuunin sensei's yell of outrage. She had climbed up the wall (without letting anyone see her, naturally) and settled on the roof. Unfortunately, she had had to move away a few minutes later as some other students had decided to come eat their lunch there (using the stairs, of course).

Several very much annoying pairs of eyes followed her as she stood up from her seat without a word (for the Uchiha, that is), and stomped out of the classroom. And even more turned to stare, as their chuunin sensei quickly ran after her.

Naruto cursed under her breath, as she sensed him coming for her. Couldn't people just leave her alone? She slowed down a bit, and chided herself. _Should've used the window again…_

Iruka was a bit out of breath when he caught up with her. She had been quick to get out of the building, but had then apparently slowed down for him. The chuunin could tell he had no chances of ever outrunning her, and she must've known it too. But then, why had she waited for him? The Uzumaki girl wasn't at all friendly or polite, and it wasn't hard to tell that she didn't want to be here. She could've easily just left and pretended she hadn't noticed him. Iruka knew she had no respect for him, so this act of consideration towards him was a bit confusing. It was all very interesting, observing such a complex person, and Iruka was a fairly talented judge of character. So, he concluded, maybe it was to show him he stood no chance against her, or something alike? How ironically thoughtful of her…

"Uzumaki-san, could I have a word with you?"

Naruto gave the chuunin a long glare. "What?"

Iruka looked at her steadily, ignoring all the intimidation her presence caused him. "How was your first day? I know a week is not a very long time, but I sincerely hope you'll be able to get to know the others a bit better before you're put into the three-man cells."

"I disagree. A week is a very long time if you have to spend it in a shit hole like this. And I don't want anything to do with the others."

Iruka opened his mouth to reply but the girl had already disappeared.

How ironically thoughtful of her indeed, to stay behind to tell him that. The girl had a sense of humor in her, it seemed.

---

The light outside was getting dimmer as the day made room for the night.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Naruto rarely did that, but this time she really had to. Needed to. The mirror was like a bait luring her, a curious animal, into a trap. She had to see. She had to take a look. She couldn't resist the temptation.

And there it was; her reflection. Staring right back at her like she had known it would.

As ugly as ever, as disgusting as ever.

She didn't understand what kind of a force could have such power over her. It had dragged her here, in the small, plain bathroom of her apartment, in front of the mirror. Naruto hated mirrors. But she had had this… Inside of her, there had been this overwhelming need to see… to compare. But compare to whom? Certainly not to the girls from the academy… right? The pretty girls with long, glossy hair and much more feminine bodies and stances than hers. Compared to them, she was like a scarecrow.

Naruto sniffed and then mentally taunted herself. What did she care? She had no need for beauty, only power. But for some strange reason, the notion tempted her thoughts mercilessly. Yes, she knew she was ugly. She didn't really have a reason not to be, did she? Naruto didn't care about looks. And besides, the girls at the academy made themselves pretty to attract the attention of the boys, and even the thought of doing something like that had her sick. She'd rather die than let any man touch her like that.

She was ugly and it was fine. There was no need for her to be beautiful, so it made no difference.

But no matter what Naruto told herself, the feeling just refused to disappear. She couldn't understand it or comprehend what was the cause of it. She just felt it, and somehow it was very painful. She wanted to forget it, and forget she had ever even come to think of it.

After all, there was no place for beauty in her life. Feelings didn't matter. Only power did, and always would.

---

Please review, my beloved readers!


	5. Chapter 5

PLEASE READ: I'm very sorry for abandoning this story for a year and a half… Right now, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this. I would like to, but inspiration is hard to come by for me. We'll just have to see. Anyway, I've actually had this chapter done for almost half a year… Sorry for not putting it up any sooner. I also edited all the previous chapters. Nothing major is different, but they are definitely improved.

My style of writing may have changed a bit during the time I've been absent. And about my… er… characterization of Mizuki… It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, but I do sort of like it. It's creepy, of course, and wrong and OOC, but to hell with that. I had fun writing such despicable character, and this is an AU.

I don't own Naruto.

For a Reason to Exist

Chapter Five — A Bad Day

[_Wednesday:_]

Umino Iruka had watched the Uzumaki girl for two and a half days now, and still the blond had shown no signs of letting go of that holier-than-thou attitude of hers. She had an aura that told him the same thing every time he tried to approach her: _enter my personal space and I'll kill you_. Or actually, the way Iruka would've rather described it had he ever dared to mention it to the other academy teachers, it would've gone something like this: _look at me, and I'll cut off your fingers, peel off your skin, carve out your eyes, and feed the parts that remain to your students._ It didn't quite make him soak his pants, but knowing what he did about her, it certainly urged him to. The horror stories he kept hearing from all the other teachers didn't help much either. Iruka wasn't _afraid_ of the girl (no ninja academy teacher would ever stoop so low as to admit fearing their own students), but he unquestionably chose to respect her desire to remain by herself. And so, regrettably, Iruka couldn't say there had been any development in the matter of figuring out this little demon host named Uzumaki Naruto.

His students, however, did not share his sentiments. Well, they naturally wouldn't, because they knew none of the things he did, but Iruka had still sort of hoped that they would be able to read the warning signs a little bit better. Most of them couldn't understand her gestures in the correct way, for she had cut down her efforts considerably after it had attracted the attention of Uchiha Sasuke. For now, the girl seemed to have decided to prefer silent resentment from her classmates over apprehensive curiosity, and it appeared to be working in her favor thus far. The majority of the class had apparently already made up their minds about the matter of the new student, deeming the girl conceited and arrogant and antisocial, rather than a real threat. They found her obnoxious and unworthy of their time, and thus left her alone — so far at least. The only person interacting with the girl at the moment was Uchiha Sasuke — and Iruka knew that that too was against her will — though it wouldn't take too long for the others to set their sights on her again, Iruka predicted. It was a given because of the continuous attention she received from the Uchiha boy. Iruka wondered how the Uzumaki girl would deal with _that_ situation when it came to be. It was nerve-racking, thinking of everything she might be capable of, if the others irritated her. So far she had not reacted violently to anything Sasuke had said or done, but were she to become the focus of the whole class's attention, she might snap. She was not used to these kind of things and situations, Iruka could tell.

The case of this girl was like a sleepy volcano — Iruka could feel the danger boiling under the surface, just waiting for the opportunity to erupt and cause destruction. Who would have known that children with their childish attitudes could be such risk factors? Though, when Iruka thought about it a bit further, he knew that it wasn't actually the children's fault that they were so immature. It was because they had, from the moment they were born, been taught to instinctively shun people who they deemed unworthy of any closer inspection. And probably Uzumaki Naruto specifically. Even if those of the children who had known her in the past didn't remember the girl very well anymore, Iruka was sure that the Uzumaki kid hadn't forgotten. And regardless of his students' memories of her, their subconscious most likely recalled the oddities of their parents' behavior towards her. They would, because of the horrible example set for them by the adults, simply go with the flow and continue the discrimination the jinchuuriki girl was forced to suffer day after day.

But despite all this, regardless of the inequity he saw before his own eyes, there was nothing Iruka could do. He had a duty; he was to teach the children the best he could and protect them in the face of danger. Their own foolishness, however, was a difficult thing to shelter them from. And as much as he wanted to tell the kids to stay away from the Uzumaki girl, he could not. It went against his orders. If he was to find out who would be in the least danger when put in the same team with the jinchuuriki girl, then he had no choice but allow the children to do as they wished and interact with her. But it was very difficult when they were going about it in the wrong way. They were, in the words of his loudest student (namely, Inuzuka Kiba), "cruising for a bruising". Or at least they would be by time they got to Thursday.

It might have been brief, but Iruka could still feel the threatening pressure of the girl's presence, and he had to wonder if Sasuke really had any idea of what he was doing and who he was dealing with. The boy had a dangerous tendency for arrogance and egoism, but Iruka couldn't deny that he was very talented. He should have been able to tell right away that the Uzumaki girl wasn't like the rest of the students, and was far from weak. Iruka only hoped that he would act accordingly and not push her buttons too much, but he feared it was a false hope. Sasuke was very resolute when he made up his mind about something.

But what had come as a surprise (even though he had very much hoped for it) was that Sasuke wasn't the only one of Iruka's students who had sensed the atmosphere the girl spread around herself. There were a couple of others, as well, who were aware of her uniqueness. That group consisted of four people: Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata — who all had their own useful methods for gathering such information — and surprisingly Nara Shikamaru, whom until now had shown no exceptional talent for anything except sleeping in class or ditching it altogether. The boy was smart, but far too lazy to do anything useful with his intellect. But apparently, he was better than he let anyone know. Iruka would have to give him a bit more credit from now on.

And how had Iruka found out about his students' awareness? Well, simply put, they were the only ones who viewed the girl with respect and didn't gossip about why Sasuke had made a habit of hanging around her. Well, Shino and Hinata never gossiped about anything anyway, but they both kept giving the girl glances whenever she flared her presence even slightly.

But the real dilemma Iruka had to deal with wasn't his disability to figure out the jinchuuriki or his discomfort with her presence in his class, but the graduation of his students and how to divide them into teams. Truthfully, he had most of them already figured out, but there were some whom he was having trouble with. Even though he cared equally for all of his students, he didn't bother to think _too _much about the ones he knew would not be able to pass the final exam (the test given to them by their jounin sensei, that is), but the most promising of his students he truly _did _agonize over. And while it wasn't normally such a great difficulty to come up with apt teams, there was a bit of a predicament this year. And the core of the problem was, once again, the jinchuuriki girl.

_Her name is_ _Uzumaki Naruto, not "the jinchuuriki girl"_, Iruka quickly corrected himself. She, too, was a person. She, too, had feelings (as could be easily gathered from the way she so distinctly showed dislike towards everything around her), and it would be unfair of him to not give her a chance. Who knows what she had been through to develop such a horrid personality! It wasn't his place to judge her, seeing as (as Iruka bitterly noted to himself) he knew nothing about her.

Returning to his original dilemma once again, he turned his eyes from the files in front of him, which contained his students' records, and affixed his attention to the beautiful scenery outside. How he wished he could go out there and relax like all the others. But alas, he had to come up with suitable suggestions for the teams by the next day, and he was still nowhere near done. Yes, the core of his problems was Uzumaki Naruto. Really, how could he recommend anything for her when he had practically no information to grasp onto? Hokage-sama knew her much better than he did. Couldn't the man have at least given him a little bit of advice? Well, at least he wasn't the one responsible for the selection of the new genin's jounin instructors. Now _that _would've been quite the headache, having to deal with those... um, those _unique_ qualities of the different personalities of Konoha's jounin population.

Iruka sighed and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was nearing six. While it wasn't anything unusual for people with steady jobs to be working late into the night, for Iruka, who had duties other than his teaching post to attend to, it was rather frustrating. Sometimes he truly hated his dutiful nature. Were he a slacker, like many of the young chuunins he knew, he would've been done with this ages ago. But no, Umino Iruka just couldn't bare the guilt of not doing something so important properly. Thus, he suffered the consequences.

"Uzumaki Naruto… what the hell am I going to do with you?" Iruka muttered and groaned. Why on earth couldn't Mizuki be the one to get stuck with this job? He wouldn't have stressed so much over it.

Oh, right. He'd just said it. The white-haired man most likely wouldn't have done it properly. And besides, Mizuki had other things to do. But so did Iruka, for god's sake.

---

[_Earlier in the afternoon:_]

Touji Mizuki indeed had other things to do, which to him were no more pleasant than the problems his "friend" was wrestling with at the academy. Actually, he would've found it more pleasing to switch places with the other chuunin, rather than sit here, stuck with a bunch of idiots and their _precious_ Hokage, handing out rank D missions and the like for annoying genin brats and co. If it had been his choice, Mizuki would've preferred to ponder on the teams, since it wasn't such a big sweat for him — after all, he wouldn't be here long enough to actually see the results. He would already be gone.

And that reminded him of another irksome problem he would have to solve sometime soon, or otherwise his plans would be postponed. It was the single most crucial part of his plan, and Mizuki knew that if he messed it up, he would be dead before he could utter the words "I surrender!". Yes, he really was prepared to do even that, if it meant his life would be spared. For in the whole world, there was only one thing Mizuki truly valued — himself.

Mizuki had not always been such a selfish creature, but life and the harsh reality of it had changed him. For a man as young as himself, he sure knew how to hold a grudge. In his heart, Mizuki knew the truth. There was no need for a real shinobi to feel mercy for an enemy, affection for comrades or even true loyalty towards one's home village. No one could make him, and really, what reason did he even have for allowing himself such weaknesses? Konoha, with its overly sentimental leaders and sweet and naïve ideals, was weak and rotten. The village had once had a future filled with affluence and greatness ahead of itself, but the old Sandaime had given it up. And for what? For a stupid, childish dream of an everlasting peace between the hidden villages, and for the hope that his "will of fire" would be passed onto to the next generations with kindness and forgiveness instead of proper discipline.

Mizuki did not deny that the Yondaime had been an intelligent, charismatic and amazingly powerful leader, but even so… Mizuki would have personally preferred Orochimaru. Of course, he had been but a little boy when Sandaime had retired and chosen his successor, so at the time it hadn't really mattered to him either way, but now Mizuki had begun to see. Orochimaru had a vision and an ambition. He would do anything to achieve his goals, just like Mizuki. And if there was anything Mizuki could appreciate in another person, it was ambition.

It was _not_, however, stupidity and childish behavior. Mizuki could have never described, not even with all the words known to humankind, how much he disliked such behavior. How he could stand being an academy teacher was a mystery, because he really, _really_ detested little children. Little obnoxious brats like the Hokage's grandson. Yes, that snotnosed brat especially. He _hated_ that idiotic durge of a boy, that spoiled little monkey, who thought he could get to places just by randomly attacking his grandfather.

Even at this moment, the brat was shouting and running towards the Hokage, who looked only mildly interested in his grandson's emotional display of idiocy. Mizuki resisted the urge to throw a kunai at the boy and struggled to control his expression. How satisfying it would be to take a blade to that brat's throat and let all that life's sweet blood out… But no, it wouldn't do to think of such things in the presence of the Sandaime. And really, Mizuki actually wasn't even a very bloodthirsty man. He just had a thing for little kids.

Suddenly, his desire to attack was doubled as the brat pulled a technique he had dubbed as "Oiroke no Jutsu", and nearly all of the room's male occupants fell on their backsides, blood oozing from their nostrils. For a split second, Mizuki wondered if there was something wrong with his virility since he felt no stimulation whatsoever by the very much naked and terribly sexy female body in front of him, but forgot about it quickly as he concentrated on controlling his annoyance, lest it turn to killing intent which every single ninja in the room would notice in a blink.

But speaking of virility, wasn't it odd that the last time he had felt aroused by anything but his own hand he had been at the academy, watching all those young to-be-kunoichi sweating in exhaustion, floored by Iruka's rigorous training schedule? Interesting… Little kids seemed to really be his thing. He hated them and possibly felt sexual attraction towards them. What an interesting combination. Too bad he had no way of letting out either of his frustrations. Not in Konoha, anyway. But when he was gone — then he would find out more about his preferences.

Mizuki watched with sickly fascination as the spectacle neared its end and the brat's own private sensei (whose services the brat didn't even fully take advantage of, despite the fact that he was always shouting about how he wanted to beat his grandfather) arrived to drag the boy away. Konohamaru, he was… someone Mizuki could use, if no other alternatives presented themselves to him. Yes, Konohamaru was naïve and easily manipulated, and as the Hokage's grandson, he had access to places and wasn't suspected of anything fishy if he sneaked around a little. Mizuki would definitely have to approach the boy, if he didn't find anyone better by the end of the week. Konohamaru wasn't his first choice for what he was planning to make the boy do for him, but then again, who else was there? Who could he possibly manipulate or coax or somehow manage to make work for his gain, other than an idiotic little child? And how many children had the same opportunities as Sarutobi Konohamaru?

None.

Mizuki couldn't reveal his plans to any of the adults either, because in Konoha treachery wasn't very common and you could never really tell who was on which side anyway — not with his prestige, or more like the lack thereof. Mizuki wasn't very influential, and nobody was stupid enough to openly declare their dislike or hatred for their own home village, except —

Except… Yes, except for _her_!

Uzumaki Naruto, the jinchuuriki girl! The fox monster in human form, who openly loathed Konoha — who was _at the academy_ for this one week. What an amazing opportunity! It was like the will of God. Maybe it was. Maybe Mizuki was meant for great things, after all… Or, despicable as the reality was, maybe he was _just_ extremely lucky this time.

But still… Wasn't this why Mizuki had offered to sub for Iruka? He had wanted to observe the girl — a gift for the person whose cause Mizuki wished to join. But to use her for his plan… No, not use — the girl was dangerous, and Mizuki wasn't about to screw up or get himself killed because of a stupid mistake like that. Overconfidence would kill him quicker than a guillotine. But what if she was willing to join him? It would make things much easier for him and he wouldn't have to rely on idiots like Konohamaru either. And Orochimaru, his new master, would be pleased if he brought along not only the Forbidden Scroll but the jinchuuriki girl too.

Oh yes, now he was onto something… He would have to act quickly, there was no time to lose, but first he was going to think about this a little bit more. Uzumaki Naruto was not someone he was just going to improvise it with. Mizuki had no death wish. And thusly, he decided that he would figure things out tonight and then have a little _chat_ with the jinchuuriki girl at the first opportunity. Yes, he was definitely onto something now…

---

[_Thursday:_]

Naruto was having an awful time. She had a positively enormous headache, and the fact that she was forced to stand outside in the sunshine without even the slightest of shade, did not help. _Why_ exactly was she doing this, again? Oh, that's right — she _had no choice_ in the matter.

Really, this was quite enough reason for her to turn into a homicidal nutcase for the rest of her life. And to think that the old goat Sarutobi actually thought _this_ was supposed to turn her into his cute, loyal little pawn! Now that was a very likely thing to happen. Translation: _when hell freezes_ _over_.

It was a few hours after midday at present. Morning lessons and theory were done for the day (and for eternity), lunch had had been eaten some two hours ago, and it was "time for a little outing", as the brown-haired chuunin sensei had worded it. In other words, it meant that the young genin candidates were going to get their asses whipped by the man's rigorous (sadistic, the students thought) exercise curriculum. Apparently, he wanted them to be on top shape at the "zero hour". "I'm not going to let you slack off just because your graduation day is tomorrow," the man had said, and doubled his efforts. Naruto's opinion was that he was taking things way too seriously. Not that she was having it tough, she was barely sweating, but the others' moans and pleads for mercy were getting on her nerves and her already enormous headache would, she suspected, probably brew inside her head until it twisted into a migraine the size of the whole continent. And it really wasn't something to look forward to.

Another thing that wasn't exactly lifting her mood any (not that it was possible to begin with) were the "discreet" glances everyone kept throwing at her. Why the hell did they have to stare? What the hell was so interesting about one blonde girl? Why couldn't they just leave her _alone_?

But no, these sheep just didn't have enough common sense to hide when the wolf arrived. And this particular wolf was extremely hungry for a big and bloody, tension relieving _fight_, right about now. Naruto was inching closer to her breaking point. Just a little provocation and she would blow up.

Unfortunately, her status within the village was a little shaky at the moment, due to an adventurous night from some weeks ago, and more bodies were not what she needed. Sure, it would liven up the day, but the consequences were not something she felt like dealing with. Still, these kinds of thoughts and actions were getting more and more tempting with each minute that passed.

Some people, Naruto had noticed, had gone beyond staring. They were actually _examining _her. They were looking at her up and down and observing how she moved and if she was breathing any harder than five minutes ago — which she wasn't — while either whispering to each other or trying to solve the puzzle that was her all on their own. It was hard for them to completely comprehend how someone their age could be so tough and durable, when even their precious Uchiha Sasuke wasn't. Because yes, their precious pretty boy, the prissy little Uchiha bitch (as Naruto had taken to calling him in her thoughts), too, was sweaty and tired and panting, though perhaps not as much as the others.

There were a few others too who were faring a little better, although none of them were girls, as Naruto had bitterly noted. No, the majority of these girls were more interested in the opposite sex and who got to be the queen bee of this pathetic little crowd, than they were in becoming true, skilled kunoichi. And it had Naruto appalled. She was so sick of having to look at their pretty faces and their nice clothes that she wanted to vomit. These girls were in for a big shock once they actually got out of this academy and entered the real world.

_If they ever get out_, Naruto thought spitefully.

Really, if this was the level of Konoha's ninja candidates, then the village would suffer for it sooner or later. It looked as if they would all be completely spent within the next hour, with only a precious few exceptions. How would these pathetic little babies ever grow to become the next generation of rulers and legends? In Naruto's eyes the future of Konoha looked dark. And it would've made her grin, had it not been for the gnawing headache attempting to eat her from the inside out.

Forty-five minutes later the chuunin sensei finally announced a break, and many of the students collapsed on the ground with relief. Uchiha Sasuke was secretly relieved, though none of it showed on his face. He was sweaty and somewhat tired, but he had an image to keep. Showing weakness for something so meager was inexcusable. Sasuke was still far from used up. Even so, Iruka's training curriculums were legendary among the academy students and true to his reputation, the chuunin succeeded in making even the most advanced of the kids break into sweat and gradually tire. Sasuke, along with Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and another few boys, were in good enough shape to be able to take the strain and endure, but even they were silently grateful for this little bit of mercy.

The only person who didn't look even the slightest bit tired was the weird new girl, Uzumaki Naruto. Sasuke wanted to grimace, but forced himself to stay calm. It was extremely frustrating. Just a few days ago he had been the strongest in his age group, no questions asked, and then all of a sudden… Some gloomy kid, horribly egoistic and so very small in stature and a _girl _on top of that, just waltzed in without any explanation and dared to treat them all like some idiotic weaklings and fools. It did not sit well with Sasuke, not at all well, and he was becoming increasingly frustrated with how things were. It was completely against his will, but he felt challenged by the girl, and while challenges that helped him become stronger were always welcome, acknowledging this girl as a challenge would be the same thing as admitting that she was a real threat. And as much as Sasuke's rather good and accomplished common sense told him to do just that (and had already done), his pride would not let him. His pride was eating away at him. This girl was easy prey compared to what he was truly up against. Killing Itachi would be a hundred times harder than taking out one petite girl, and if even a small feat like that was giving him trouble… It was inexcusable.

Sasuke glanced around himself, noticing the looks the blonde girl was receiving from their class mates. It was just too bad that the one time that he didn't have to be the focus of everyone's attention, he would have to willingly become it. For he knew that the kind of interest that he kept showing for the new girl was bound to draw their attention, regardless of how Sasuke wished it didn't. But it was still the lesser evil. He much rather gave up the rare chance of privacy in favor of the satisfyingly vexing freshness that this new student/to-be-genin brought along with her. The time and trouble of gathering the information wasn't too big a sacrifice, and when Sasuke really thought about it, neither was the extra attention, if it meant that he would be able to solve this puzzle. He was rather impressed that a _girl_ could outlast him, and so he considered his hands tied in the matter. He would, sooner or later, get to the bottom of this.

With these thoughts he marched inside the academy building to freshen up and fill his water bottle.

Naruto watched the dark-haired boy from the corner of her eye, mentally gloating over the fact that she was the reason for the scowl of irritation on his face. It was rejuvenating to know she was causing annoyance and confusion among this horde of headless chicken. Idly she noted that, for once, the Uchiha had actually decided to leave her by herself. It was a surprising but a more than welcome change.

Looking for a more secluded spot to stand in, Naruto strode towards a big tree, hoping that the shade it provided would help minimize the damage done to her brain and prevent the migraine she so dreaded. She was blissfully unaware of how many people actually were thinking about her at that moment. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into a meditative state in an attempt to get a better grip on her temperament. She really had some major self-control issues, even the fox had noted it. Those issues took form as a flaring temper, unpredictably random bursts of anger and sometimes rash decisions. None of them were good personality traits for a person with ambitions as grand as Naruto's.

As superior as her senses were, with her eyes closed and her mind so deep in concentration, Naruto missed the visible wave of restlessness that went through the other students suddenly. The cause for this was the approach of a girl threesome with jeering expressions on their faces. They had almost reached the edge of the tall tree's long shadow, when Naruto suddenly jerked out of her daze, caught almost off guard not by the approaching girls but her own lapse in awareness. She felt drowsy because sleep had been avoiding her lately, and that only added in to her ever-growing frustration. A nearly undetectable, pained frown forced itself onto Naruto's face, but her long, untamable bangs hid it from anyone who might have been able to notice it. Naruto was hungry and sleepy and had a headache. And now she was being stared at, too. There could've been no clearer signs of danger than those, but no one seemed to have the ability to pick up on them. The blonde prayed for patience and self-control as she heard the threesome halt not ten feet from her. She allowed herself a quick, unnoticeable glance at the girls standing before her, but gave no sign that they had her attention, wishing they that would go away if she ignored them. Unfortunately, she was wrong.

The three girls were the class's biggest female bullies, the fiercely disliked Ami, Fuki and Kasumi.

"Hey, new girl!" said the tallest of the girls, the one with a brown afro, and took a step closer. As difficult as it was, Naruto kept completely silent and motionless, still intent on ignoring the threesome. The afro girl, who Naruto remembered was called Kasumi (how she knew that was a mystery, because she never really paid attention to others), did not seem satisfied with her response, for she stepped even closer.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" she shrieked.

When Naruto failed to react, another girl, the violet-haired Ami, huffed scornfully and said: "She's got to be deaf, the stupid little bitch." The other two made agreeing sounds, although each and every one of them knew it was not true. "Just look at her," Ami continued loudly, causing everyone in the yard, even those who'd rather ignore her, to turn and stare. "It's better that she doesn't know what people are saying about her behind her back. I mean, what a freak!"

"Yeah," Kasumi agreed. "Have you ever seen anyone creepier?"

The third girl, whom Naruto had noticed had a hairdo similar to her own except for the color, gave a sniping giggle. "I'm so glad I don't look anything like her — she's so fugly. And her clothes too — just look at them. You'd think that we were in an emo convention or something."

_Look who's talking_, Naruto thought sardonically, trying to suppress her flaring anger. These three girls were less unfamiliar to her than most of the other kids, because they often made a spectacle out of themselves, and Naruto was quite aware of their appearance. Ami and Fuki were nice-looking enough though not the prettiest of the girls (this mantle belonged to either the pinky or the blondie fan girl of the Uchiha), but the Kasumi girl was ugly. And none of them had the perfect skin or the agile, feline build that Naruto had. Even if her features weren't pretty, the three were still in no position to make fun of her.

"Yeah," Ami laughed cruelly. "She really has the right look for it, what with all the black clothes and gloominess. The only thing missing is eyeliner and facial piercings."

"What a freak," Fuki leered scathingly. "What a fucking joke."

And this was the point where Naruto's rather short temper boiled over. Naruto's blue eye opened in a flash, glaring at the threesome menacingly — trying to relay a message, a promise of violence if the girls didn't stop, through the eye contact. The trio jumped back a little, somewhat shaken by the sharpness of her glare and the viciousness emitting from her, but didn't let it bother themselves for long.

The tall girl, Kasumi, stepped very close to Naruto and leaned over her, most likely attempting to look intimidating — she was their muscle power, after all. "Oh, look, she's still alive. Scary!" she exclaimed tauntingly.

"Got something to say, bitch?" Fuki asked snidely.

Naruto cast her gaze to the ground. She was a second away from taking out a kunai and finishing the job before it even had time to unfold. She spoke very silently, but made sure that they all still heard her.

"Yeah. Fuck off."

"Whoa!" Kasumi snickered, towering over her petite figure. "Did you guys hear that?" she asked, turning to look at her friends. "She wants us to leave!"

They laughed until the violet-haired girl quieted down, her two cronies quickly following suit. "I don't think so," Ami stated. "We're not done yet. I've got a bone to pick with you, new girl. So listen —"

Naruto promptly interrupted her speech, not bothering to hide her anger anymore. "Why are you still talking to me? What part of "fuck off" don't you understand?" she demanded loudly, garnering looks of surprise from the others who were still watching. For some of them, it was the first time they ever heard her speak, and they couldn't have been more obvious about it, Naruto noted bitterly.

"Shut up!" Ami shouted, suddenly on the defensive. "I don't know what your deal is, but you better stay away from Sasuke-kun!"

Ah, they were getting to the core of the problem now. This was about the prissy little Uchiha whom every single girl in Konoha seemed to be pining after.

"Did you hear what I said, you freak?" Ami exclaimed, her face turning unflatteringly red with her self-invoked fury.

Naruto snorted. "Or what? What would you do if I didn't?" She asked the question only out of curiosity, but the threesome, amusingly enough, were stupid enough to think that she was serious. Their rage was obvious and immediate, although the violet-haired girl was, for the time being, able to keep her composure.

"I've got ways of making your life hell," Ami whispered, in a voice that was obviously meant to sound threatening. Naruto was far from impressed.

"You don't even know how ridiculous you sound right now," she replied, rubbing her temples to soothe her headache. "Just go away. You people have no self-preservation instincts at all…"

If she had wanted to get rid of the three girls, then this was obviously not the right thing to say, because the moment her words reached their ears, they were on her, grabbing her from the arms and the hair. The struggle didn't last long as Naruto easily tore away from their grasp and leaped away from their reach. With the threat of physical harm (as ridiculous as her "tormentors" were), she crouched into a ready position, baring her sharp canines like a cornered animal (something which Inuzuka Kiba noted with interest).

_Fight! Fight! Fight!_ was the only thought in her mind, violent intentions playing in her head, washing away all the control she had worked so hard to obtain.

"Do you have a death wish?" she snarled at the trio. "I'll gladly grant it to you. Free of charge, even. Would you like that?"

The first one to come at her was the tall Kasumi, Fuki not far behind her. Ami moved slower than her cronies, unwilling to put herself into direct danger. It was obvious now that she was the head and brains of their little gang.

Naruto felt the adrenaline in her blood and the anticipation was like medicine for all her ailments. She dodged the afro girl's attack effortlessly and skillfully danced around her, raising her right hand to grab the brunette from her hair. Both Kasumi and Fuki were too slow to react as Naruto positioned her captive before herself, and the two collided painfully, Fuki falling on her back and Kasumi bumping into the blonde behind her. Naruto did not budge from the impact, only pulled harder on the afro of the tall girl.

"Violence is my art," she spoke, her tone too vicious to belong to a girl so young.

"Coming at me is a suicide."

Kasumi struggled harder, fear creeping into her movements and making them shaky and reckless. Naruto took a strong hold of her arm and, not hesitating for a second, broke it like a twig. Ignoring the horrific cry of pain, she tossed the girl aside and went for the second one, who had only just managed to get up from the ground again. Fuki unsuccessfully attempted to evade the brutal right hook that was aimed at her, and went flying from the sheer force of the strike. She landed under the tree and remained motionless.

The other students were only now starting to react to Naruto's furious onslaught, for what had felt like plenty of time to her, was only a few seconds in reality. Ami had halted her approach and was shrinking away in panic now, not bothering to even spare a glance at her so called friends.

There was blood on Naruto's fist — Fuki's blood from the girl's broken nose — and it only excited the blonde more. Her left arm, which had so far remained unused, was seething under the bandages, demanding more violence. And Naruto was too far gone to notice that her opponents had already lost their fighting spirit. Or perhaps she just didn't care. The frustration and pent-up anger were getting the better of her. She licked the blood from her hand like a savage and grinned, ignoring all her coherent thoughts in favor of the blissful adrenaline rush. It had been so long since she had been in a fight. She wanted it and craved it, desired it like an animal desires its pray. She advanced, not bothering with any unnecessary speed. These babies of the academy were so slow. In a very sadistic way, it made the chase even more enjoyable for her.

But there was also something else, something that made Naruto stop all of a sudden, as a certain notion occurred to her.

This was the same feeling she had experienced not too long ago, the night she had saved that Ayame girl. The same malicious impulse that told her to kill, to terminate, to slaughter and make it rain blood. It was not quite as strong as it had been that time, having been set off by a less touchy subject, but regardless, Naruto felt alarmed by it.

Suddenly there was something grey at her left, heading for her in a considerable speed. Naruto was just in time as she moved to her right and dodged, managing to avoid the surprise attack aimed at her by only an inch or two. Looking up to find the boy with the puppy glaring at her, his animalistic expression very similar to her own, Naruto chided herself for letting her guard down so easily.

"What the fuck do _you_ want?" she barked furiously, her head beginning to throb as her enthusiasm faded.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Can't you see they're down already?" Kiba snarled furiously, positioning himself between Naruto and the three girls. His courage was hanging by a hair after the show the blonde had just given them, but Kiba was the kind of rash person who would impulsively risk himself to defend the underdog (no matter how much he felt personal dislike towards them). And so, since there were no adults present to step in and no one else seemed to be willing to do it, Kiba simply felt obligated to interfere.

Naruto measured him with her gaze, somewhat impressed by the boy, but finally just scoffed and disregarded him. She had no intention of going after the threesome now, but verbally she was not yet finished with them.

"Hey, you," she called out to Ami, who was staggering backwards in panic. "You're lucky I'm not on a particularly vindictive mood today."

Naruto heard the dog boy snort at her words and mutter a quiet: "Psycho freak…" She paid no heed to the insult, only to the fact that he _still_ had the guts to insult her after the kind of rage she'd just displayed.

Rage, that was completely inexcusable after all she had done to keep herself calm and empty her mind of all the frustration and aggression she had bottled up inside her since the moment she had first set foot in this purgatory. She needed to have better control over her feelings, especially now that she was about to be placed in a three-man cell. She needed to do everything she could to avoid this kind of situations in the future, or her plans about the chuunin exam might be foiled. But how? How to avoid them? How could she keep her self-control when the others intentionally went out on their way to annoy and (god how ridiculous it sounded!) to bully her? So far she had preferred to ignore them all and just keep her distance while trying to make herself look as unapproachable as was physically possible, but was that really the best solution now? Her silent demeanor had been broken and people were more curious about her than ever. Was there any way to prevent another scenario like this from happening? Would her silence and hateful glares keep them at bay? Had this scare had a big enough impact on them?

Another question. Was _she_ ready to let this go just like that?

Perhaps it was time to change her tactics. After all, they only had one more day and morning left, and then the number of possible future bodies would be reduced to only two, and those unlucky ones who were put in her team would learn quickly enough to stay the hell away from her. So, perhaps she should do something different to get her kicks and keep them from coming to her.

Slowly, an interesting thought began to take form in her head. Wouldn't it be curious if she, instead of keeping her mouth shut, actually talked to them? Not in a conversational way, of course, but made a little speech?

And now there were two different sides of Naruto's personality arguing with each other. The antisocial department was telling her that it wasn't worth the trouble; that she should be able to manage one day and morning without killing anyone, even if people approached her. The department of S&M on the other hand was telling her to go for it. The sadist in her wanted to make the little babies pee their pants, and the masochistic part wanted do it to prove to herself once again that people really weren't her thing, and that it was better for her to stay as detached as possible, because she would never be accepted by others.

A few words would hurt no one.

_Briefly, then, and straight to the point_, she decided. That seemed to be the right way to go about things. Naruto took a deep breath and scratched her jaw. Positioning herself so that she was facing the majority of the students, she clapped her hands together once, demanding everyone's focus, and sneered like the sight of them made her sick.

"I don't know what the fuck their problem was," she pointed at the fallen trio, "but if any of you other dipshits has a problem with me, then you better come out with it now. Don't think you can count on that mut-face to save any of you another time." The dog boy glared at her fiercely and his pup growled loudly, but Naruto paid no attention to this. She was just about finished with this horde. "And, not that it's any of your business," she added off-handedly, "but it's the bastard Uchiha who's practically forcing himself on me, not the other way around."

Naruto was just about to turn away and take off, but at that moment the world forced its fucked-up sense humor on her once again. _Irony of life_; how she loathed the whole concept then. _Of course_ the Uchiha just had to return to the training field the very second she mentioned his name, and _of course_ he couldn't even be alone! Following him, came the scarred instructor, whose name might've been Iru-something, along with another teacher, whom Naruto thought she had seen somewhere before. He was a man of about the same age as the other chuunin sensei and at first glance there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary with him. He had whitish hair and average looks, but there was a hint of something disagreeable somewhere in there. His eyes were far too pleasant to be natural.

_The two of them make quite a pair_, Naruto observed with disgust. _Friendship. How revolting._

She felt the echo of similar thoughts somewhere deep within herself, and knew that she had the Kyuubi's agreement with that opinion. The smiles on their faces were repulsively good-natured and effortless, and even the brooding figure of the Uchiha couldn't spoil the picture.

_Ugh._

The two men and the Uchiha came to a sudden stop, however, as they took in the sight ahead of them. The frightened and wary students, the two injured girls, Kiba's protective stance and Naruto in the middle of it all — the two chuunin were instantly alarmed and grimfaced. Many expressions flashed on the Uchiha's face, among them surprise, annoyance and disappointment (which was probably due to the fact that he hadn't been there to see it all happen), until he regained the control of his facial muscles and settled for a guarded demeanor of cold interest. There was no love lost between him and his fan girls, and Sasuke was far from a kindhearted and caring person. He didn't even pity the three girls for their injuries — he only mocked them for not understanding their own weakness.

Naruto felt slightly awkward, feeling the stares of the others, but decided to ignore the idiots for as long as it took for them all to snap out of it. She snorted disinterestedly and took a step to the brunette girl's direction. The boy with the puppy looked like he wanted to stop her, but then decided that now that their instructor had returned, it wasn't his responsibility anymore. It only took a few strides for Naruto to reach the unconscious girl, and giving no heed to the scarred chuunin who was rapidly advancing, she crouched next to her and examined the damage she had dealt.

"Lovely," she sniggered, waiting for the explosion she predicted would follow. But to her great surprise, there was none, and the brown-haired man only glanced at her with sadness in his eyes, something which stirred a great many strangely confusing feelings of anger and defiance in Naruto's heart. Why was he looking at her like that?

"What happened?" he asked, his voice filled with something that Naruto could've easily mistaken for patronizing, had there not been that crystal clear emotion of deep disappointment in the man's eyes. "Why did you do this?" he asked again, and though Naruto felt just the slightest bit compelled to answer, her attention was suddenly caught by something else. The white-haired man was… was _fucking_ ogling at the other girls' asses!

"Uzumaki?" the chuunin repeated, catching Naruto's attention once again. The girl noted the lack of the polite –san with cold amusement. So, of all the things, it was the action of hurting another student that had finally lost her his respect? Well, to hell if she cared. That man made her feel strange, almost just the tiniest bit remorseful, when he looked at her like that, but the emotion was small and pitiful and would be crushed and forgotten quickly.

"Take a wild guess, why don't you?" Naruto snarled venomously. "You know who those bitches are, right?"

"If you are referring to their reputation as bullies, it still doesn't excuse anything. You had no right to injure other students —"

"You don't even know what happened —"

"Regardless! In this academy, violence is never the answer. I won't tolerate it."

Naruto stared at the brown-haired man, confused. "This is a ninja school. How the hell can you say you won't tolerate any violence?"

Iruka, who was now frowning very openly, was just about to reply, but that was when the other chuunin stepped into the conversation.

"Okay, let's break it up here," Mizuki said, coming to stand between the two. "How about you tend to the girls' injuries, Iruka," he suggested, glancing at the trio, "and I'll take Uzumaki away and question her?"

The brown-haired chuunin looked at Naruto for a moment, before nodding and hurrying to his students. The blonde's gaze followed the man as he moved, her brains trying to work out the puzzle that his contradicting choice of career and personal morals posed. Naruto had never in her life met a ninja like him before. Even the Hokage, who carefully fostered his image as the caring, grandpa-like leader, understood that violence and bloodshed were unavoidable in the profession of a shinobi. Hurting others and suffering injuries was simply a part of the job description, and a piece of who they all were. It was naïve of the chuunin teacher to think that he could keep his students safe from that reality. Irresponsible, even. But then again, it wasn't Naruto's decision nor was it any of her concern whether the others survived beyond their first mission that included any real action. Even so, she _was_ rather intrigued by this chuunin instructor's idealism. It was impractical but somehow… _cute_. It was almost amusing enough for Naruto to laugh straight to his face. But perhaps doing that wouldn't be in her best interest, considering that she _had_ violated his rules rather crudely. Maybe later, then.

"Well then," Mizuki approached her and was about to grab on her shoulder, but Naruto dodged his hand angrily.

"Keep your hands to yourself, bastard," Naruto snapped, glowering. No part of this man would be allowed to touch her.

"Suit yourself," Mizuki replied, an infuriating smile brightening his face, and begun to walk away. Knowing what was expected of her, Naruto followed. But there was something wrong about it all. Somehow, she could sense it. But despite the consequences, she followed. Curiosity wouldn't be able to kill a cat like her, anyway. It was ridiculous to even consider such a thing. And knowing this, Naruto followed.

--

Please review, my good readers!


End file.
